Christmas Day in Southern Illinois

Here it is past 10:00 pm Christmas Day, and I have failed to post the Thursday blog.  My wife suggested that HEDIR subscribers would understand if I failed to post the Thursday blog on Christmas Day, but I am compulsive enough to get it posted before midnight.

Last evening, approximately 40 of my relatives and I gathered in the basement of my mother’s home, which is located up the hill from Modoc, Illinois.  The number present was down a bit from what it has been in recent years.  I believe the most to gather for this family reunion was 52 a couple of years ago.  We gather for a traditional Catholic Christmas family gift exchange, with many going to Midnight Mass or watching the Midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s of New York City on television.

Today, we gathered in the home of a sister-in-law in Red Bud, Illinois to continue celebrating and exchange gifts with members of our extended family who could not be present Christmas Eve.  Later, we will gather in the home of my wife’s sister and brother-in-law to perform the same kind of celebration among her family members.

With respect to those who celebrate Christmas differently and those who celebrate other holiday traditions at this time, I send holiday greetingss and hope all is well for you. 

Sadly, many had delays in their travels due to inclement weather.  On Tuesday morning, which was just hours after my wife and I arrived from Shady Shores, Texas at my mother’s house, there were many vehicle crashes west along I-70 and I -55 in Missouri and east along I-64 and I-57 in Illinois.  Unfortunately, a man from North Carolina was killed in a crash along I-70.  We are grateful that all in our families were able to arrive “home for the holidays” safely, but extend our condolences to those less fortunate.

It seems that humans tend to take some significant risks to accomplish things that are of great importance to them.  Members of my family, including me, have often traveled on ice-covered highways to “get home for the holidays.”  Most of you have probably had similar experiences.  May we all travel safely returning from where we gathered for these holiday celebrations.