Family

Christmas always allows us to spend time with family. First, we celebrate Wigilia, a Polish tradition, on Christmas Eve with the full Pietraszek clan.  Santa provides a stand-up comedy routine while passing out gifts to the youngins, the adults duke it out in a gender-split Yankee Swap, and then all sit down to enjoy a meatless meal of soup, fish, pierogies, and other delectables.  Since the girls have been able to drive, Aunt Maryanne has moved the start time up so that Rali and I can leave before the meal to return for the Christmas Eve service at First Church; when Zoe and Lucy were younger and the start time was later, Rali missed out on Wigilia and I missed out on her Christmas Eve services.  Sadly, COVID struck my cousin Annie and made her parents hosting the whole family impossible.  We were still able to celebrate Wigilia this year, though, since my in-laws (Jean's parents) invited us down to RI where their sons and their families were staying for a few days.  The Pietraszek clan was smaller than usual, but it was so wonderful to spend time with my brothers-in-law, their wives, & their kids, all of whom we do not get to see very often.  My in-laws were exhausted yet in their glory surrounded by their kids and grandkids.  


Christmas itself was lovely, too.   Zoe, Lucy, Rali, & I donned our Christmas PJs and felt grateful for the thoughtful gifts under the tree.  We were treated to a visit from our dear friend Ang, who got to witness some of our morning goofiness inspired by this guy.  ("YOUR WATCH!!!!")  Pam, a friend from church, spent a couple of hours with us in the early afternoon around a warm fire.  After a delicious dinner, Zoe's boyfriend joined us for some spirited games.  All in all, it was a great holiday!

The next day, we headed to CT.  Not quickly, mind you. I had a few weeks more than Rali to get into vacation mode and was not working on a schedule . . . and let's face it, I tend toward lateness even when a schedule dictates my movements.  Rali's dad, George, hosted us all for a few days.  We always enjoy our time with George - whether it's in CT or MA or VT . . . or next month, in Israel! . . . he's just great company.  Rali and her sister Karen went to a Broadway show to celebrate Karen's 60 birthday, and all three Weaver sisters spent a good together time, too.  We had originally planned to visit PA family, but COVID struck my brother-in-law Brad.  We decided not to risk infection since we wanted to be sure we would be able to get Lucy down to UMiami and settled.  Instead, Zoe and Lucy headed back to Dedham to work and hang with friends while George, Rali, and I drove out to Long Island to spend the better part of two days with Rali's cousin Kate and her family.  What fun we had!  


All agree that we will do all we can to increase the frequency of our visits with one another - in fact, we're creating a new holiday!  We visited the bay-side and Sound-side beaches - so gorgeous!  And their home is wonderful - warm, inviting, and beautiful.

Upon our return to Dedham, we ran errands, made packing lists, failed to register our pop-up camper at the RMV multiple times, spent fun times with friends,


and eventually went to sleep in the chunk of time straddling January 9th and January 10th to sleep for about 4 hours before Tyler - thank goodness for Tyler!!! - drove us to the airport for our early flight to Miami.  WOW!

Before we move away from the holiday, though, we'd like to share with you the best gift of the year: Zoe and Lucy's rendition of Grenade, first performed when they were maybe 7 & 8, and performed once again for their Rali this Christmas.

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