Merry Christmas!

That's right - today is Christmas! Russian Orthodox Christmas, that is.

While I am not Russian Orthodox myself, or even a practicing Catholic any longer, I continue to celebrate this second Christmas every holiday season in memory of my grandmother, who I called Baba, which means grandmother in Ukrainian. Baba, who was my mother's mother, passed away on December 23rd, 1993, at the age of almost-91. We'd thrown one hell of a 90th birthday party for her the previous spring, but in truth, her last few years were rocky, at best.

The year she died, we didn't celebrate Christmas on December 25th in any fashion - too much going on with funeral planning. However, we did remember her on January 7th, the day she recognized as Christmas.

And so every year, even when my mom is being a complete poop and has no Christmas spirit herself (on either Christmas day!) I do something to commemorate the fact that Christmas, in fact, comes twice a year.

So Merry Christmas, ya'll!

Love,

Tiffany