santa claus is coming to town..

it's  9:51pm and i am thinking of heading to bed.  i stopped to look at my mantle filled with santas, 

all the santas i have painted over the years.  the same mantel i have tried to change up the past  couple of years.  i am faced with opposition from many places.  folks who remind me that it is tradition and it's part of so many christmas pasts.  i am out numbered in looking for the change.  i love it, i do, it's just that i thought it might be time for a change. a sweet friend sent me a picture tonight of a santa  that i had given her mom many years ago.  her mom passed away this past summer and it made me smile that she still has this small reminder of a different time and place. we shared so many happy times. 

this is a piece of my life.  

for a moment i could hear my dad calling us from living room to start his movie reel rolling on christmas morning. the past is part of all of us. the good times and the challenging times. then i thought of my sweet friend that has had such a tough go of it these past couple of weeks.  she rises to the challenge every single time and we still hope for another miracle.  i thought of  my brother in law who lost his sister just a couple of months ago and how hard it is this year for his family.  i thought of my mom boarding the plane to come home tomorrow for the holidays after her own successful surgery just a couple of weeks ago.  life can be so tricky and hard and happy and beautiful.  i stop and remind myself to see the good,  to hear the small sounds, to feel the big feelings, and to say thank you for all of it.

time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like real life.  "brian andreas"

love sent, xo