This Christmas Break was Unusual

These holidays were unusual for me. I didn’t do my regular routine of going to Old San Juan and walking around. Neither did I get to eat at the Hamburger in Puerta de Tierra overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I didn’t go to El Yunque or Luquillo. In fact, I was hardly able to do any of my customary walking, exercising, and sightseeing because I had my 87 year old mother in tow and this year she wasn’t as strong as other times. No this was an unusual Christmas break.

Regardless of the fact that I was less active it was still a great vacation and holiday. One of the best things I did was spend time with my mother. I don’t know about you but when I do something for someone else to make their life better, I am the one that receives the greater blessing. My mom had been in a nursing home until I went to PR on vacation and she was so happy to be out of there. (This nursing home is excellent I know but its not family.) She would tell me everyday, almost at every opportunity. In fact, even without words. If she had to get up during the night and saw me at the dining room table painting she would just laugh and smile. Just to see her be happy for that made me feel strange. Strange because all I was doing was being there, nothing spectacular, and now I realize that sometimes that is enough.

Please don’t feel sorry for me, I did plenty of sightseeing in the car and thanks to my ex-husband, I had a great car at my disposal. I saw the ocean almost daily and got to spend time with dear friends and family. So I am not complaining, just reflecting. Life is good. God is good.

The top photo shows me with my friend Camille and her family and the second with my Morales cousins and my sisters. Mis queridas primas y hermanas. And finally my mom in front of the Atlantic Ocean in Puerta de Tierra.