I really miss my hometown at Christmas. Family, friends, the lights, the gatherings, the smell of real Christmas trees, and the new fallen snow. We try to re-create all that, here in Florida, and on the surface, it looks like Christmas, but it's a far stretch from 'home'.
So we turn the A/C up, click on the fake fireplace, and play Christmas Carols, while recalling all those wonderful Christmases from years past.
For Mailia, this is the only kind of Christmas she knows. So we play it to the hilt. Someday, God willing, we'll go 'home' so she can know what traditional Christmas is all about. For now, we are making our own traditions. And that's ok too.
We don't exactly live in a small town here. It's more like a suburb of Orlando. But there are still a lot of small town traditions and local customs that we enjoy. One of them is the annual St.Cloud Christmas parade. Low budget floats, lots of patriotism, and hometown pride as the bands and football players and cheerleaders march by flashing smiles to their parents and friends along the way. So simple, so down home, so perfect.
Mailia's Brownie troop entered a float in this year's parade, so I became one of those proud Mamas, beaming and heart swelling as she passed us by. Another 'first' for her Daddy and me. But the smile on her face was priceless! As her float approached, we could see her scanning the crowds for the familiar faces of her mama and daddy and Lai Lai (grandma). When she finally spotted us.........well let's just say it don't get much better than that. :-)
What a tough year it has been! But tonight we will reflect on all the ways 2008 was good to us, and look forward with our hopes and dreams for 2009.
