For the last 24 years of my life, every December 24th, you can find me in Nebraska.
My family hasn’t missed a year there in over 24 years. Every Christmas eve you can find us in my Grandpa’s living room. Every Christmas day you can find us gathered in some random location (anyplace with a hall big enough to hold us) eating mashed potatoes and turkey. Over the years we have lost some loved ones, and gained some new loved ones. In fact, since I started coming to Christmas at age 0, the group has *almost* doubled in size of new people. Maybe I’ll post some pictures :-).
This year though, could mark the first year where things change. A series of family changes have occured that has made it excessively difficult for everyone to get to where we all have Christmas. New babies. People who are sick and can’t travel. New marriages. All of these things reshape families in ways that can make it difficult to figure out if old traditions stay or if new traditions get formed.
At this point, I don’t know exactly where I’ll be on December 24th this year. The one thing I do know though: I WILL be with loved ones.