Suzy Says

One of the good things about not celebrating Christmas is that you don’t get the post-holiday letdown, other than the depressing sight of trees chucked out the instant the great day is over. We always kept our tree and decorations up until Twelfth Night, ever since I was a child, so I find the instant disposal of anything holiday-related kind of weird. And although we had asked everyone not to send gifts this year, we didn’t forbid cards and phone calls. I got phone calls from some of the friends I have known since high school, and also a call from my cousin Cathy.

My maternal grandmother (she of the Christmas memory) was Cathy’s aunt. I’m not sure what kind of cousins that makes us, but it’s some kind. She called to see how I was doing, and while I was talking to her I realized that she is actually a blood relation of my grandmother, and I’m not (my mother was adopted). Also, Cathy’s grandmother (who was married to my grandmother’s brother) is still alive and living in her own house at 98, the same house she lived in all her married life. I have my grandparents’ wedding picture in my living room, and it amazes me that the pretty maid of honor in that picture taken nearly 80 years ago is still with us. Wow.

My family is actually pretty small. Dad’s sister never married, and she, Dad, and all my grandparents are gone now. My mother was an only child, so I never had any uncles or cousins. So I’m very grateful for the cousins I have. My cousin Les and I had great-great (or possibly even more greats) grandfathers who were brothers. So it’s not exactly a close relation, but when I met Les and his wife Nadine when I was in England this summer, I felt as if I had known them my whole life. I also treasure the memory of the day we spent together at Kew Gardens as the only bright spot on that trip.

I also heard from my friend Mary-Lou, who was my bridesmaid just two weeks after losing her father. She’s having her novel “Thirteen” published in the new year, and as usual, she made me laugh until I cried. My ex-boyfriend Peter checked in before heading off for Christmas with his mama in Montreal. We broke up 18 years ago, but we’re still friends. And finally, my friend Alice, a former model who just got her PhD in math last June and is now doing a completely different kind of modelling: risk for international bonds, is going to take my niece Cat shopping and exploring in Amsterdam this weekend. Alice has lived there for 15 years or so now (ever since she married her very handsome husband,a Dutch photographer), and this is my 19 year old niece’s first visit there, so just imagine the fun.

I’m so lucky to have so many friends and family, however distant, who care about me!