When our Candyman Can't

The love seat on the porch is playing dress up.

I always want the front door to be welcoming and inviting.

It feels good when someone knocks on the front door of our house. Like a present......

Presents. We decided not to get each other obligatory presents this year. Even though we have always kept it simple under the tree, many times it falls flat and tastes flat afterwards. Each one of us expressed a feeling of fullness inside; no material object would make any of us feel more loved. When each of us said this in different words, tears filled my eyes. This is the real gift. Satisfied gratefulness. Recognized blessing. No empty holes needing filled. Only satiated fullness.

It hasn't always been this way and probably won't be this way later, but it is a gift right now, 'for such a time as this'.

There is nothing under the tree, wrapped or unwrapped. We did have fun decorating every inch of the house. We have enjoyed a few visitors. A wonderful supper. When Craig gets home on Christmas day from the hospital, we'll try to celebrate a meal together. A ham dinner.

Craig's new knee is a present for all of us this year. He is enduring unbelievable levels of pain, like his body is saying - ENOUGH!

Taking good care of him while he recovers is our gift to him. He is the kind of man who is easy to love because of what he does for all of us girls. Yet, I want him to feel loved for who he is. Selfishly, we will miss all of the ways he cares for us. There will be a gap, a hole. Our life will be handicapped while he rehabs and gets back to normal. We will lose our handy man and candy man for a while. For him, love is an action word. I hope we can reciprocate in the same way.

This will be a caregiving Christmas, the best kind of giving; caring for our candy man.

This isn't about Willy Wonka, it must have been written about Craig:

Who can take a sunrise

Sprinkle it with dew

Cover it in chocolate

And a miracle or two?

The candyman can

Cause he mixes it with love

And makes the world taste good

The candyman makes

Everything he bakes

Satisfying and delicious

Talk about your childhood wishes

You can even eat the dishes

Who can take tomorrow

Dip it in a dream

Separate the sorrow

And collect up all the cream?

The candyman can cause he mixes it with love

And makes the world taste good

And the world tastes good cause the candyman

Thinks it should