Tony and I pass each other on the stairs. I'm carrying toy trucks back to the basement cupboard and he's bringing up two space heaters usually kept in each of our studies to still the early morning chill.
We are trying to put the house back together in one hour before our house-cleaning help arrives.
We find socks under beds. A box of forgotten Christmas gifts. Tony washes the bedding for eight extra mattresses. A myriad of Christmas knics and knacs go into boxes and are carted to the storage room. I find an unrecognized pair of sneakers. One daughter forgot her rotisserie chicken. Most of the snowflakes on streamers have come down, but I hold on to the few with a good scotch tape connection, and yes, let's keep the live Christmas tree as long as it brings in the smell of a forest. We need to return a borrowed booster seat and stack the borrowed mattresses in the basement until our friend returns from New Zealand.
The fridge door no longer shuts automatically. There is a sizable scuff on the kitchen-island wood trim. But the toilet never overflowed and the dishwasher proved hardy after three to four loads a day.
The airport car's windshield wipers quit working, but I didn't remember this and took off with my first return load to the airport. I learned that even in a hard rain, the freeway speed keeps the raindrops from clouding vision while driving. Though I did age five years from the stress of 90 minutes in a rainstorm without windshield wipers. My belief in prayer was also reaffirmed.
Everyone's flights were on time and they made it home safely. No one took home covid, but the two-year-old took home a nasty cough.
Sigh.
We danced, we decorated, we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. So much that Tony has already figured out the next-time protocol for dish use.
We listened to O Holy Night; I learned about Krampus.
I learned how much I love my family. For in the chaos, I found the peace. In their weaknesses, I found patience. I felt the presence of heaven and what it may all be like when one day finally, we are gathered in another other realm of eternal existence.
You can't recognize heaven unless you experience chaos.
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