Another trip home comes to an end in less than five hours. So why am I awake at 4:28am? Well...for one of the best parties of the year: The St. Martin Brown's St. Stephen's Day Party. I'll leave it up for all of you to look up the meaning behind St. Stephen's Day, but I will tell you why it is so great. Friendship. A bunch of people - most of whom I only see on this night - gather to play games and talk and catch up and laugh together. It feels like one of the few aspects of my life that remains the same while the rest spins and changes. We repeat stories and laugh about years gone by. These are people that I truly love and appreciate. Whose smiles and jokes stick with me for days. People who I've looked to in time of need and discomfort, friends from high school or youth groups. People who have remained as others passed away. They are friends and family. And maybe this is the end of a long day and night talking, but I love those people and I already look forward to next year's St. Stephen's Day.
I hope all of you have had a holiday filled with laughter and joy. That you've experienced the good in life and remember what it feels like to breath because those are the most precious things out there.
Tomorrow I leave home again, and many of the faces that I care for. I hope all of them know what they mean to me and what they've done for me in past years. And I wish them - as well my readers - a great year filled with all of these and more so that next year we come back with more stories and laughter to share.
