Another year has passed, and the holidays are once again upon us. Thanksgiving has come and gone and now it’s the time to get ready for the Christmas season. We enjoyed our time with family for Thanksgiving, and now it’s time to move to a smaller celebration of Christmas with just our household. We start our yuletide transformation the day after Thanksgiving by sending my husband to the garage to grab all the holiday boxes.
My husband pulls out our eight-foot artificial tree, complete with LED lights that change from the clean and classic all-white to the many Christmas colors that used to adorn many Christmas trees when I was growing up. Over the years we have collected special ornaments from the kids, friends, and family members that are a must for our tree decorating. I make sure to direct where each bulb, ornament, and Candy Cane is placed. I always get the best vantage point while using my Quantum Edge 3 wheelchair and its iLevel technology.
Next up are the decorations for the rest of the house. The front door gets a huge, beautiful wreath made up of lights, Mistletoe, Holly leaves, berries, and chestnuts. Everyone’s stocking is of course placed on the mantel hanging in preparation for those interesting stocking stuffers.
We start our annual donation to the Salvation Army of removing gently used toys and clothing from all the kid’s rooms to make room for new Holiday surprises.
We find a local place to serve dinner or pass out food and clothing baskets as a family each year. Since we have been going my kids have become acquainted with the staff and some families that visited multiple years. I found meal prepping, serving food, and navigating through crowds at iLevel have all been made easier. After we have served the local community, we come home as a family separated into rooms to begin placing items in each stocking. Our family tradition is to open one item on Christmas Eve and all of the remaining items on Christmas morning. I wake up early to cook the annual breakfast of French toast, sausage, and specialty omelets. Then finally at breakfast we sit back and enjoy our favorite movie, “A Christmas Story” and then proceed to pack up the car to drop off gifts to the grandparents.
Happy Holidays from our family to yours.