Christmas @ Schoenmakes

Christmas at the Schoenmaker's, it's the event of the year... I remember growing up the anticipation of that special day the Saturday before Christmas. Always watching the weather, seemed like some road or another was always flooded! My mom's whole family would get together, all my aunts & uncles & cousins, probably easily 50+ people... We would go out to my Uncle David's farm, which was always a treat in & of itself, I was after all a horse freak & he had a couple.

Once there I remember anxiously watching out the window, guess at who was driving up the long driveway. The hugs & greetings, the love shared by family. I also remember following my mom around, listening to all the conversations. And every year it took me awhile to warm up & then when it was time to go I would begin the "I don't want to leave!!!" cry. I also remember plenty of political debates & fishing stories, vacations taken recounted.

I was remembering these things & so much more this year at the party. I am watching my kids make themselves at home, playing with toys, talking to great aunts & uncles. They are now getting to enjoy these same people that always made me feel so special & loved. I wonder if they will have fond memories of these times, of waiting for some cousin or another to come down the long driveway. Listening to the stories told by aunts & uncles, seeing the love of a big family in action. I am so blessed to have Schoenmaker in my blood, it's an honor to be part of such an amazing family.

The gathering is smaller these days. We have some snowbirds in our family & some that have moved from the area, but it's still a special time. And those family members missing are far from forgotten. They are in our memories, they are thought & spoken of in conversations. I look forward to the day when we can have the whole family together, maybe we'll have to plan a gigantic camping trip a couple years in advance... Wouldn't it be something to see how much we've grown, because I have so many memories as a kid and now I am one of the adults... although I still got stuck at the kid table! In protest we said that the other table was for the "old" people! Yep, love my family!