“Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.” – Gail Lumet Buckley

Isn’t it funny how when you return to the home you grew up in you are overcome with a feeling of comfort and belonging? That’s how it feels to me at least. There is something about sitting in my dad’s recliner, watching my mom run all over the house like everything is the most important thing in the world with a Christmas movie or music playing in the background, the Christmas tree in the same spot as always with the same ever-familiar ornaments and photos of our past hung on the walls, that makes me feel complete.

Memories of my father hug my heart in the most bitter sweet way possible the last few years. The memories of my brother and I as children waiting patiently as my Dad comes down from the loft with the video camera to capture our faces as we opened our gifts remind me of how close Nate and I actually are. Well, this year, I got to see him again and laugh until it hurt, and, even if just for a few short hours, my family was together again for the first time in ages. Family is what Christmas means to me. Traditions.Laughs.Love.Home!

Tomorrow I will get to see more of my “family” when my friends come over for brunch. My family has grown miles wide over the years with new faces and personalities adding on each year. So, to ALL of you in my “FAMILY,” I wish you and yours the merriest of Christmases this year. You are the mirrors through which I see my past, my present and my future. Thank you for that! I hope that you get to spend time with whatever extension of your family you can, that your traditions carry on and grow, that you laugh until it hurts and that you are surrounded by love and memories of home! I have linked my favorite Christmas song to my family photo below, sung by two of my favorites. From my heart to all of yours, Feliz Navidad!