Christmas Eve...

Friday, December 24, 2010

I have always loved Christmas Eve. As a child, it was the day that passed the slowest but held the greatest hope for what was about to happen. How good had I been? Did Santa really keep a ‘naughty’ list and if so, how closely had I been monitored? Would I be getting my version of the ‘bee bee gun’ or would I have to wait another year before I would be allowed to shoot my eye out?

As I grew into my teens and started working, Christmas Eve became something more. It was the day that my family would share presents we had gotten for each other…reserving Christmas Day for presents from Santa. Then I started dating and was able to bring Holly over on Christmas Eve to join in those wonderful family festivities.

Holly and I married and for the next nine years, we continued this pattern…until Jason was born…on Christmas Eve. He was born very early in the morning and after spending some time with him and Holly, I went home and passed out. I awoke in time to stop at my parents’ house and tell everyone about the new addition to the family before heading back to the hospital.

Christmas Eve would never be the same for me. Yes…we would still gather with my family on that day, but now my own family was more important. We had to figure ways to make Jason’s birthday seem special before moving into the whole Christmas thing…and I think we’ve succeeded over the last 26 years.

This Christmas Eve was a time for another big shift, though. Two years ago, my dad passed and the family house was sold. We no longer gathered in the only place I’d been on Christmas Eve for the previous forty years, but instead met at my sisters’ house, though not everyone came. And this past October, Jim passed and for the first time in my life, I would go through a Christmas Eve without my big brother. This thought plagued me throughout the day…no matter how many times I reminded myself of all the good things I still had in my life. Some things cannot be replaced…I know that now…and so I will just honor his memory and make the best of it.

I put 60 minutes on the bike first thing in the morning, though I should have ridden 3 hours if I had any hope of a negative calorie day. Holly had baked my grandmother’s famous himmerschnitzen Christmas cookies and there was no stopping once I started eating them. We went to my sister’s, where I packed in many more non-essential calories before returning home to more snacking before church.

Though Jason was with us for most of the morning and through the party at my sister’s, we never did get to give him his birthday presents and make it a special birthday. I regret that, but he’s a good guy and understood. He’d be over first thing Christmas morning and we’d just have to do it then. Merry Christmas Eve, big brother.

Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900