Well, we got through Christmas in one piece. It wasn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. Fortunately, we were all together with our aunts, uncles and cousins, so it made it a lot easier.

I spent the first part of Christmas with Dave's family, though I was reluctant to leave my own. After hanging out at his family Christmas party, Dave's parents, his brother and girlfriend, and Dave and I headed out to my family party, which was already in full swing.

We all went to midnight mass together, taking up about 5 rows. All the Polish people at church were probably like 'Oh, look at all the Filipino people! Must be the Feliciano's or their neighbor's hosting Christmas again.' Church was pretty difficult, since there's a lot of thinking time. I was getting through the holiday pretty successfully by constantly moving and constantly talking and cracking jokes. At church, I could do neither. So it took a lot of willpower not to sit there and think about my mom not being there. When that happened, I could feel a black abyss of despair opening up and a wave of emotion gripping me. It was hard not to fall in!

After church we went back to open presents. It's our first Christmas together, and it was interesting to see how many 'Dave and Christine' presents we got. We got a nice platter, the Two Towers DVD, and a lot of other cool things. Opening the presents was fun, and felt so normal. It was nice. Afterwards, we just hung out and played cards. Well, I fell asleep on the couch, but I could hear everyone else playing cards. I slumbered while listening to the laughter of my sister and cousins. (Because of course, Claudine was the first to fall asleep)

Christmas day, I woke up and ate lunch, then we all headed over to the cemetary. I think that was the hardest of all for all of us. But we got through it. I talked a little to my mom in my head, telling her I missed her and that it just wasn't the same without her. My aunts said things like 'I miss you Cris!' or 'Merry Christmas, Cris!' I know that they felt her absence from our holiday, too.

Then we went to go and watch 'Lord of the Rings', to catch the matinee. We usually go to see a movie on Christmas day. But this year, for some reason, the theater was PACKED! The movie was actually sold out and we had to come back later to watch the movie. What are people doing watching movies on Christmas day? Don't you have lives? *snicker* We enjoyed the movie, and couldn't help snickering with all of the loving hobbit parts. You know what I'm talking about.

So it wasn't that bad. It was great, but it wasn't horrible. I'm glad it's over, but I'm also glad that we were able to spend it with family and people who love us, they made a hard day a little easier.

Here's some pics....enjoy!!!

Me and Dave

Us reindeer gotta stick together!

The Girl Cousins

Opening Presents

Posted by Yano at December 25, 2003 10:41 PM

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