It Was Time

"Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays."
"Man alone measures time.  Man alone chimes the hour. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures."
"A fear of time running out."
                                           ~ Mitch Albom "The Time Keeper"

Twenty-five years.  That's a lot of time.
It's the difference between youth and middle age.
Between having no children, to being empty nesters (almost).
Between having your whole life ahead of you, to realizing that you have lived through many of the "big events" of life already.
Between being the grown children of grown parents, to being the grown parents of grown children.

Twenty-five years goes by fast.

Twenty-five years is how long it's been since I have celebrated Christmas with my sister.
This year, I decided not to let another year go by.
So last week I flew to Alaska with my daughter, Kerry, to deliver a surprise gift - us!

We had the pleasure of surprising not only my sister,
                                                                         but each of her three daughters separately.
Even though it wasn't really Christmas yet,  the five days we spent together
                                                                        sure seemed like it.
And even though it was frigid outside, the warmth we felt inside
                                                                        made up for the air temperature.
Unlike get-togethers on December 25th,  there was no great preparation.
The house was not cleaned for guests.
No big feast was planned.
We just hung out and did ordinary things - TOGETHER.
That's what made it so special!


"With endless time, nothing is special.  With no loss or sacrifice, we can't appreciate what we have."
"There is a reason God limits our days.  To make each one precious"
                                           ~ Mitch Albom "The Time Keeper"