Christmas 2007

Another Christmas has come and gone and I hope everyone had a nice time. For me, it was one of the most enjoyable Christmas’s I’ve had in recent years. This year, I had the unusual experience of enjoying Christmas on the double. On Sunday 23, I had Christmas dinner with my eldest son and his family. This arrangement came about to facilitate my son having Christmas dinner with his children who would not be with him on Christmas Day.

We were joined by the children’s only other surviving grandparent - their grandmother, Alice. It was a marvellous day. The dinner was prepared by my granddaughter Mari. In truth, all the family gave a hand in the preparation but Mari was the main architect. And, what a terrific job she did. My other granddaughter Deirdre added her own touch of excellence to the meal by preparing the dessert, which was a tasty dish consisting of stewed apple with fruit stuffing.

All Hands On Deck, Deirdre, Mari, John, Michael, Patrick

On Christmas Day, I had dinner at my daughter’s house. Added to the pleasure of this was that I got to meet another one of my granddaughters who was back home for the holiday from her job in Germany.

Granddaughter Emer

All in all, it was a very nice Christmas, but today was tinged with a little sadness because this evening some of the grandchildren returned to their various work locations - two of them to Dublin and one to Germany. Granddaughter Mari, the architect of the first of our Christmas dinners, is now in Canada. Still, it was a nice day. All the family gathered for 9am Mass this morning, after which, we had breakfast at my son’s house before saying our goodbyes.
It’s now Sunday night and I am ensconced in my newly decorated sitting room reflecting on a very happy Christmas and looking forward to dinner on New Year’s Day at my daughter’s house. Did I tell you I am blessed with a great family?

Nenagh Christmas Lights

Interestingly, Judy and I had a conversation this day about what constitutes success in life. Is it arriving at a time in your life with a large amount of wealth? Our discussion ranged around a lot of things that we could consider success. I offered the opinion that if wealth was the only criteria, then, alas, I, for one, haven’t had much success in life. On the other hand, I thought that parents bringing up a devoted family and them, in turn, bringing up a family that is a credit to all must surely be one of the greatest measurements of success.

Another Nenagh Street Scene

The Sign Says, Merry Christmas Fom Nenagh

I would like to wish my readers a very Happy New Year.