December??

I cannot even wrap my brain around the fact that it's December! Where does the time go?? As the other girls have mentioned, Thanksgiving has come and gone with bitter sweet moments. We went to Connecticut for Thanksgiving and seeing my father with Kiera melts my heart every time! I cannot get enough of how overwhelmed he is by her! He gets this giddiness that I don't know he had when I was a baby...but I think being a grandparent is much different than being a parent sometimes. I think my mom is rolling over in her grave seeing how far my father and I have come...since she said to my friend's mom before she died, "please keep an eye on Melissa and Tony, they're going to kill each other!" :) He says all these funny things to her, bounces her around and looks like he's going to eat her alive, it's adorable. His whole attitude has changed since she was born and we're loving every minute of it!

It's terribly enjoyable being with my Dad and Camille on Thanksgiving, but I also miss going to my Uncle Bob and Aunt Noel's in Massachusetts every year. We used to have THE best time! There were a whole bunch of us there, so many laughs, and the annual Trivial Pursuit game. My cousins would sneak us drinks and we'd eat way too much! When I was really little I used to be able to sleep over with my cousin Meg while my parents stayed in a hotel...I loved that! She's five years older, which at the time felt like an eternity...and she used to take me to see movies like "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" at night. I miss having a "big" family...big for me anyway :) I'm so excited for the years to come, the holidays to celebrate...to give my Dad, Camille, Donna and Tom another Grandchild...and to have fun with our "big" family.

Melissa

Holidays

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and mom has missed another one. While at my Aunt's house with my cousin and all of her children it occurred to me that Mom died only a few months after the youngest, Holly, was born..she will be 4 in January. As much as I am happy that my father has found happiness with another woman it REALLY bothered me to watch this perfectly wonderful woman play with my cousins children. What was equally troublesome for me is watching them ADORE her. I have nothing against her at all it's just that it hurt like hell to know that these children don't remember my mother at all and that my father's girlfriend is who they associate with "uncle Bill." In fact it wouldnt surprise me if they thought she was my mother. It just really sucks because watching Barbara with them is exactly the way my mother would have been with them so while it is nice that she likes them it is also extremely painful. My aunts house just seems so empty without my mother there. After my cousin and her family left it was really awkward being there....usually after my cousin leaves my parents would stay and chat for a few more hours.....this time I felt like she was just waiting for us to leave because in truth my mother was really the one she enjoyed being with. So I made my exit... a bit sad that while I am still coming to the house I spent EVERY thanksgiving at during my childhood that it is no longer the welcoming place it once was....and I dont think it really has anything to do with my aunt....just the lack of my mother.

However this year I am very thankful for SOOOO many things including my wonderful husband and amazing friends and most of all the promising possibilities of my very near future!!