This Christmas break was one that I will never ever forget. To be put it candidly, it was a two-week emotional roller coaster ride. It began as soon as I landed. My Dad picked me up and I was all set to get home, go out to dinner and just relax. As you can imagine, that did not happen. Instead, my Dad immediately tells me that his Mom and my Grandmother is not doing well. So we made the decision to go right to Philly to see her. I will be forever grateful we did. I got to say my goodbyes and see her one last time… the next day she passed away. It is never easy losing a loved one, but I was sure glad that I was there surrounded by family. She meant a tremendous amount to us and has taught me a great deal about life. I already miss her so much!
On a lighter note, every year my family and I celebrate Christmas in Jupiter, Florida. It is one of the only times we can all get together down there as a whole. It was an unbelievable couple of days. I was sure glad to get out of the cold weather, get down to the beach and get out in the sun. After being in Ireland for a couple months, I will never again take for granted warm sunny weather.
After, that we came back to my hometown Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. I didn’t have time to see any friends or family before I headed to Florida so my college teammates and I got together to go to a University of the Sciences game, our alma mater. What a blast it was! You really don’t realize how much you miss your friends until you are gone for so long. It was so great catching up with all my friends and family.
That alone was an eventful Christmas “break.” However, NewYears was also just as interesting. I get up on New Years Day and my Mom says that we have to go to some gathering for Chrissy’s (my older sister) proposal. I said, “WHAT?!?!” I had no clue that her boyfriend, Dave, was proposing to her. It appears my family forgot to keep me in the loop on this one LOL. It was certainly some much needed good news!
Anyway, I tried to squeeze as much in two weeks home as possible. I think I did a pretty good job given the circumstances.
Now it is time to head back to Ireland for round 2! I feel recharged and ready to go! I definitely want to enjoy these next couple of months as much a possible! Stay tuned..
