Surviving Christmas

After a flurry of activity, the holiday season is officially over, at least as far as I can tell. I've seen friends and relatives, have used yards of wrapping paper and tape, have been to the grocery store more often than I thought humanly possible, have cooked more food, and actually found time to take several naps. I feel like we had a pretty good Christmas. Much better than last year. I managed to quickly recover from my holiday meltdown and actually enjoyed most of the festivities.

A year after my most difficult Christmas ever, I feel like I can reflect a bit and realize how much healing has happened in the last year. I am far from feeling like life is back to normal, as I think I've realized that I need to make a new normal. The old one just isn't there anymore. I miss the old normal, it was easy. I miss the comfort of my mother's words urging me through my life. But I think I am finding my feet again and learning to rely on myself a bit more. So a new year begins. I have great hopes for it to be easier than the last.