This holiday was all about family.
Coming home to Boston for me is an emotional journey filled with happy hellos and sad goodbyes - but Christmas anywhere else wouldn't just be the same. This year was strangely different, the jet lag was all too familiar and the winter flu season hit hard with our entire family sick at one time or another but I happily immersed myself in the mundane and beautiful moments most people take for granted.
I shared cups of coffee and long conversations with my Dad, wrapped presents and baked with my mom, cuddled with my new and perfect little niece Lela and laughed until I cried at the cuteness that is my eldest niece Fiona. I spent the majority of my time at home in my pyjamas (I'm not joking) watching 'American Pickers' with my parents, chasing my niece around the house and reading her books, drinking wine with my sisters and forcing everyone to play Taboo - my favourite game.
We had a hilarious girls day out trying on wedding dresses and a few token trips to Border Cafe for my margarita fix but the cold weather and our runny noses kept us from seeing many of our friends - something I regret and hope to make up for when we come back later this year. There is a certain sense of guilt that plagues me while I'm home - guilt for missing out, guilt for not being there when the times are good and the times are bad and guilt that my family can't be there to experience our incredibly lucky life in Australia. When I'm home I struggle with these feelings combined with homesickness and the feeling of complete and utter crazy love and annoyance that comes with being surrounded by family.
Seeing my nieces grow up before my eyes was especially moving and even now that we've been home for a few weeks my heart breaks not being able to see them daily - something I will no longer take for granted. It was a wonderful holiday - bordering on boring it was so simple - but something that I found to be completely relaxing and everything I hoped for. It's crazy how much I miss them now. xx
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