December was quite the ride

This months was filled with a roller coaster of emotions...

December is normally a fun, eventful, and joyous month for me for numerous reasons: my birthday, school break, and Christmas. However, this December was a bit more melancholy. My papa died on December 11th. Americo Picariello would be 97 years old next month. He was a fun, wise, patient, proud, loving, giving, kind, selfless man. He is the only grandfather I ever knew and it was extremely hard to lose him. This was my first experience with a loss so dear to my heart so all the feelings were unfamiliar to me. I am deeply saddened for my grandmother who is now a widow after 70 years of marriage. I cannot imagine the loss she must feel. My entire family was together the week before and after his death and the support I felt during those times is indescribable. He died at home, in his own bed, surrounded by those who loved him most. He went peacefully and painlessly, praise God.  And though he lived a long and full life, it was still hard to see him go. He was a constant, always there. And it is hard to live without him. However, it does bring great joy knowing that we will be reunited in heaven one day.

As hard as it is to move on in this blog, and talk about the happy times of December, I know papa would want me to. So here is a snapshot of the joys of December:

My family used to cut down their tree every year, but by the time I was born, my dad quickly got over that idea, and started ordering it from a company. I remember getting off the bus, seeing the big brown box on the deck, and running into the house, saying, "THE TREE IS HERE!" Though it's ridiculously expensive, I talked Eric into cutting down our tree so I would have new tree memories... more than a brown box delivery! (This was the first and probably last year we'll do it, but it was very fun!)

Tim's birthday is on December 13th and mine is December 17th so we celebrated them together. It's always fun doing joint birthdays.

Because we are going to Europe in April, Eric and I decided not do gifts for each other this year, which was fine because Santa Claus filled our stockings! Every year, my parents go to their kids' houses and fill their stockings. This was our first time being part of that tradition! Santa even helped himself to cookies and milk!

On Christmas morning, we started our own tradition of drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies while opening our gifts. We opened our stockings then went to my parents' house for a delicious breakfast and presents. Afterwards, we went to my grandmother's house to spend Christmas with her. My uncle George made home-made raviolis which were delicious! It was a hard day, especially spending it at my papa's house without him there, but God carried us through it. It helps having the kids around because they bring out smiles and laughter no matter what the situation is!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families!