The Christmas Shuffle

Annie & Molli ~ newborn and recent college graduation

{Today, I get to introduce you to Annie ... beloved daughter of Molli, granddaughter & namesake of Charlotte, and cousin & grown-up friend of mine! Annie's story is so beautiful ... as is she. You'll be hoping she makes many more appearances here on our blog. Thank you, Annie, for sharing what Christmas is for you and for shining so brightly ... I love you! ~ Teri Lynne}

Christmas Traditions?

Ha! I laugh in the face of such things!

I deny even knowing what they are!

I have faint memories of a Great Turkey visiting when I was young and bringing Capt’n Crunch. That was a tradition. But it hasn’t followed me.

I remember cutting down live Christmas Trees and nobody being happy with what we got. That has kind of stayed on. Ed takes the boys to cut one down every year, but that’s not MY tradition.

I’m sure that in my infinitely horrid memory, there are traditions that I don’t know about. But all tradition went out the window the day that I became we.

The arrival of Malcolm changed Christmas in a way that I would have never imagined. And no, it’s not seeing the day in wonder through the eyes of a child. It changed because that was the beginning of the Christmas Shuffle.

Annie and Malcolm (10 days old)

Ahh, yes. The Christmas Shuffle. Probably well known to some of you. It was brand new to me in 1998. I was at my home with my baby boy enjoying my mom and dad, doing Christmas things, and then…Shuffle! Off to his dad’s house. I had to give up the one thing that made this Christmas so much more wonderful than any other I had ever had.

And it wasn’t just my Shuffle. My step-sisters were doing their own version between their mom and dad. It was chaotic. It was not fun. Family was not together. It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. But it was the way of our lives. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Nobody was completely happy. Nobody was feeling fulfilled. Christmas just wasn’t as good.

And then there are those who are not shuffled but still have to suffer the consequences. My dear Sean is heartbroken every year as his brother gets shuffled away. They might fuss and fight when they are together, as brothers do, but I’ve watched the Sean half of the Shuffle. It’s like he loses half of himself and he’s not happy again until the Shuffle is reversed and his Malcolm is home. It’s the heart breaking outcome of a “modern family.”

Now I’m not bashing my family, nor would I wish any of them away. I believe that if it was different, my family wouldn’t be the family it is and my life would not be complete. I wouldn’t have my boys. Wouldn’t have the Amazing Rocket Man as a father. Wouldn’t have my Forest as a loving, caring husband. I would not have gained a compassionate spirit for the needs of others. I would not have learned flexibility. I would have not learned the importance of family. I wouldn’t have learned the Shuffle.

Annie & Forest

So while my Christmas tradition might be very different than others, it has taught me so much about Christmas. It’s not about presents, or when they are opened. It’s not about the things that are or are not done. It’s not the food that is or is not cooked. It is about loving family and loving the time that you have together. It’s about knowing who family is and being truly blessed by them. It’s about keeping the spirit of Christ in your heart no matter what life throws at you.

Forest, Annie, Malcolm & Sean

And that is my Christmas Tradition.