End of the Year, End of an Era
Part of our celebration involves something we call “Party Pieces.” This started a long time ago as an attempt to impress on youngsters that not all gifts had to have brand names and cost a fortune. Some gifts can come from the heart; some gifts can come from your own talent, creativity, or life experience. It’s kind of our family version of kindergarten Show and Tell. We’ve had some great shows over the years. Years ago Sally & Charlie and their two sons (now married and serving their country) wrote and sang a parody of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, with the lyrics pertaining to how Grandma got run over by a Golf Cart. One year our daughter-in-love Laurie brought all the younger generation little drawstring bags filled with “jewels” and she sat on the floor and taught them about gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Son Billy, a brewer, gave a Science Guy demo once showing us the fundamentals of the brewing science. We’ve had travelogues of vacations, guitar performances by teens, and…you get the idea. Not everyone participates every year, but it’s always enjoyable. Charlie, in their new location, is a volunteer fireman. He brought his entire go-bag and showed us how firemen dress and how they are protected. We all had lots of questions, but four-year-old Gram was so awed, he was speechless for the only time all weekend. We have a lot of fun with Party Pieces.
This year Dave & I brought a party piece. We made a scripted power point about our three weeks last November in Edenton. With the final pictures of a turn of the century bungalow and its historical architecture, we announced that “this old house will become our new home in the new year.”
This is our last Christmas in our mountain house. Gasp! They were all happy for us. The hardest room to leave is my writing loft. What will my new writing room look like? I’ll let you know.
Happy New Year everyone. I hope your year will be as interesting and exciting as mine is certain to be!