After the Thanksgiving holiday!

Yesterday Mike called me that his cousin had passed on.  His death was not yet clear, but I know it made Mike really sad.  At first I thought  . . .why?  I've been married to Mike for 4 years and never did he introduce me to him, so how important was this person to him.  He went on to tell me that his cousin's immediate family was not in tears, and he couldn't understand why, I explained that perhaps they felt peace in their hearts that he was in a better place.  Sometimes no matter how much you love a person you can't help them with the pain they are feeling.  Which brought me to tell Mike, that perhaps he didn't have a bonding relationship with his cousin in his later years in life, but that he should cherish the juvenile memories that did have, and to use his cousin's death as a reminder to flourish the relationships, particularly of those who are still living.  Like me, his children, his parents, his siblings.  

So today I decided to take my own advise for the 25 days til Christmas  I want to practice my relationships as a wife, mother, daughter, niece, cousin, neighbor, friend and so many other hats we wear on daily basis.   I'm going back the basics, Christmas cards, cookies, sharing favorite recipes, hug my kids til they beg me to stop . . .and of course I will be blogging about it!  Just call me Jolly!