Been sitting around in my feeted pjs this afternoon pondering how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family. Wonderful is not a wonderful word to use…maybe glorious, marvelous. We had our McMurray family Christmas dinner last night.

Everyone was happy and brought delicious dishes and the children were full of cousin fun. Their cheeks were red and their eyes shining with the mystery and magic of Christmas. Unbeknown to us they snuck upstairs to the guest room and played jump on the bed. Laughed and cried and colored ornaments and opened presents, and ate 1,000 candy canes. The littlest one was pushing his walker around and wanting everyone to watch his prancing. He has a thousand expressions to fit any situation.

One precious little one walked in the dining room pointing to a little plate of Hershey kisses and said, “I want chocolate!” Grandaddy and grandmother gave her a chocolate kiss every time she asked and soon her mother came flying in the dining room saying,”Where are the car keys? I need the diaper bag!” Yep, no one counted the kisses they were handing out. Course we were too stuffed to exert ourselves. We were in food comas!

During dinner the two children’s tables in the sun room, college freshman down to age 2, spontaneously burst out with a hilarious off key Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I had been threatening to turn off the tv if they changed it from Amazon music. They didn’t realize we were listening. Made me cry to realize how fleeing these magical days of childhood are. And how wonderful to have my nephew who had battled a serious illness to be sitting at the table singing the loudest.

Middle brother said the blessing and choked up when he gave thanks for his grandson’s health. So many, many prayers were prayed for him. He’s excelling at Auburn University and I know he’ll change the world one day, some way.

This morning I cooked a big country breakfast for Thomas and his family and we lingered at the table enjoying conversation and the happy sounds of my grandchildren. Chief always loved our country breakfasts.

I taught Handley how to make a pecan pie. She loves cracking eggs! She did a great job. The pie was delicious and middle brother took it home with him. I started crying helping Handley with the pecans. She said, “What’s wrong, Patty?” (Alexander named me Patty because we played Patty Cake so many times when he was a baby.) I told her the night before my mama died she taught me how to make a pecan pie. She’s wasn’t well and was in her bed calling out all the ingredients and recipe and how long to cook the pie. She died the next morning and now I’m the family pecan pie cooker and Handley will be able to carry the tradition on.

My grandchildren have experience death of their loves ones several time in the last few years. They think of heaven as a reunion with loves one carrying on like we do on earth. When Alexander said the blessing at breakfast today he said, “Grandaddy, I hope you and Rosie are having a happy day in heaven!”

At Chief’s funeral, our grandchildren wrote short notes to Chief and tied them to helium balloons. Alexander’s read, “Hey, Grandaddy, I hope you are okay and doing good in heaven, hanging out with Aunt Rosie, sitting with Georgia, (their dog who died and loved Chief) and seeing everybody up there. You are awesome and amazing. Your grandson, Alexander Saunders.”

Emerson wrote, “Hey Grandaddy, I miss you so much. I never wanted you to leave, and by the way Devanta Smith won the Heisman. I miss you so much. I will never forget you ever. Sincerely, Emerson Saunders. P. S. I miss you so much.”

Handley wrote, “Dear Grandaddy, I miss you so much. I really didn’t want you to die. I hope you have a great time. Hearts and kisses (drawn on the paper). Love, Handley”

If you have an empty chair at your dining room table this Christmas, I feel your pain. Life goes on. You can be sad but don’t live life sadly. The world with all her glory is a wonder to experience!