South Bridgton, Maine, USA

From Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

After 3 years of “celebrating” Christmas in the Middle East, I managed to make it home to my parents’ house, the family home in Maine. With Grandma and Grandpa living across the road and Nana, Auntie Di and my cousin Pete up from Massachusetts, it was a full house for our annual waffles-with-raspberry-sauce-and-whipped-cream Christmas brunch.

In the afternoon, Auntie Viv and George showed up from giving Christmas Sunday services up north, and there were more gifts to open. More importantly, Auntie Viv had brought half of Christmas dinner with her, and it was soon time to sit down for more food and merriment.