Dejection Day

Daughter and Son In Law Packed In for Sad Trip

Getting up and heading into work yesterday was so much fun(heavy ironic voice), especially knowing that my wife got to spend the last few hours we would have with the kids on their Christmas visit home.  Since my boss was taking some vacation days I was in charge and had to put in an appearance.  Things were incredibly slow and I snuck out early in an effort to tap into that small remaining time.

I came home to an empty house (if any house containing Buddy could be considered empty).  The whole bunch returned shortly from Cracker Barrel meals and watch fittings at the local mall, conducted in my son’ brand new car.  He was justifiably proud of his new acquisition and loved showing it off to his mother.

My son and the MEG had to leave for more familial obligations in New Hampshire and I knew Christmas was really starting to be over at that point.  This was compounded with the task of bringing my daughter and son in law to Connecticut to catch their train back to NYC.  I felt a real sense of Christmas just collapsing on top of me.

The ride down to Connecticut was quiet which was appropriate for the somber undertaking at hand.  I was considering all kinds of wild plans to kidnap them and force them to stay longer but in the end I figured that would probably not extend the holiday spirit very long.  I sadly left them at the New Haven train station.

The last of our Christmas traditions is a day after Christmas party at the home of my friend in my hometown, Keene, NH.  There was a major winter storm coming in overnight but I thought we could sneak the trip in as long as we didn’t stay too late.  As we made our way north through Massachusetts we were greeted by dozens of electronic signs warning about the storm and advising people to modify travel plans.  My wife pointed these out to me but tradition is tradition, at least for me at Christmas time and this would also keep me from the now empty house for a bit longer.

We actually made pretty good time to Keene except for a small traffic jam in Vermont of all places.  My wife used all of her feminine wiles to convince me (and it took a lot) to make a quick stop at TJ Maxx for one last gasp at Christmas shopping.  We pulled into Keene at the same time my daughter and son in law reported arriving at their Brooklyn apartment.  My friend’s party was low key but so enjoyable catching up with mutual friends from my hometown. 

I’ll always consider Keene home and these wonderful people are a large part of the reason.  There is an easy comfort at being able to pick up conversations and interactions without any discomfort or anxiety; just really nice people.  

We had the storm looming though.  I would periodically check out the window for snow flakes but it was all clear so I decided to stay an extra hour.  We left the party and although it was not snowing you could feel the impending storm in the air.  We were five miles out of Keene when I noticed the first flakes.  By the time we reached the Massachusetts border the snow was falling heavily and as we pushed south we were shortly in nearly white out conditions.  It took nearly an hour and a half to cover the last thirty miles.  My wife’s new Highlander performed superbly in the snow and even made it up our driveway (no mean task when it is snow covered) without a problem.  There is a cool button on the dash that says, “snow”, you push that and it’s almost as if the car mentally adjusts.

While I was glad to be home, it was still an empty house, which compared with the past few days, I found severely lacking. This is my annual coming down after the high of family and friends at Christmas.  Even Buddy seemed depressed having to deal with just my company.  I’m much easier to catch than my son.

Nothing can detract though from another great year of Christmas memories.

My Son Taking Off in his New Car Yesterday

Daughter and Son in Law All Packed Up
Nervously Ignoring My Kidnapping Theories

Great Time and People in Keene

The View on the Drive Home Last Night

Just Kept Getting Better and Better