Louisiana Christmas Preparations

Here we are again, smack dab in the middle of an incredibly busy Christmas holiday! This year has been absolutely fantastic, and this December has proven to be even more so. Christian is now 15, as you are probably aware if you read his column last week, and Mackenzie is now eight!

I have turned 40, and am pretty surprised as to how good it feels to have made it this far! Heck, I even started working out again.

We have attended parties, eaten great food, had a ton of laughs, and gone to see the Nutcracker, with the two oldest girls, at the Fox in Atlanta. We have also taken an awesome trip.

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Cheryl took me on a cruise for my birthday and it was unbelievable! We sailed to Cozumel on the “Liberty of the Seas” of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line…AWESOME! If you have never done this before you have got to try, you will never forget it. One day I will write about our experience, but not today.

Now that all of the other stuff has been accomplished, it is time for us to return to Louisiana for Christmas; a homecoming that will be bittersweet. We haven’t been able to go for the past few years, four to be exact, and in the meantime we have lost both of my Grandmothers.

My Grandfather, the only Grandparent that I have left, is in poor health, and we really need to go see him while we still can; so Christmas with Grandpa is the business at hand!

We have made all of the arrangements for the animals, the house sitter, the travel, and anything else that we possibly could; and are now trying to get psyched up for the long drive with the children. Have you ever driven 14 hours with six children in your van? Well don’t!

Nobody pees at the same time! Children get hungry, they get tired, and they want to know if we’re there yet…two minutes after you leave the house…and every five minutes after that! Children fight in vans, they scream in vans, they pass gas in vans and don’t tell you. But! You eventually find out!

Children want to eat something good for lunch…but no one wants the same thing; and no one wants what mom and dad want. Then, the one child who caused the greatest amount of turmoil about what they wanted to eat…and eventually got their way; will receive their food…stare at it for a minute…and then declare that they are no longer hungry!

Seriously people, if you can help it, don’t travel with this many children; instead, pack them in boxes and ship them Fed-Ex, then, enjoy your drive. Don’t worry, they will get to their destination in good shape…just write fragile on the box. Fed-Ex usually does a real good job with fragile stuff.

Anyway, we are driving to Louisiana for Christmas, and I am very happy that we are; but I’m also a little melancholy because my Grandmother will not be with us. I don’t know what is going to hurt more…not seeing her there, or seeing Grandpa without her. Christmas was what she did best; she did it better than all of us.

Grandma loved that dancing Santa’s and dancing trees that swayed backing and forth to rocking Christmas songs. She would turn them all on and just laugh her head off; and we would all laugh while we watched her…she was the best.

When she went to heaven it hurt, that was three years ago; this Christmas, it’s going to hurt again and I am trying to prepare myself for it.

Cheryl and I are going to do our absolute best to take in ever moment with the children and Grandpa because we know that this is probably the last time we will see him on this side of eternity; it is this reason that I say it will be bitter sweet.

So in the middle of a very busy holiday season we are trying to slow down enough to get packed for our journey to Louisiana, and to get on the road. Personally, I can’t get there fast enough.

Jason, Father of six