The last few days went relatively well. Several of my in-laws were sick, so D13, W, and I ended up alone at home for Christmas Eve. We didn't do mass because D13 also felt sick. I ran out to pull together an alternate menu that was delicious. We played a few games, watched some Christmas movies, and called it a night.
The next moring. I finished wrapping gifts for D13 and from D13 to W. D13 seemed to like all of her gifts. Once the dust settled, she and her friends were on FaceTime, showing off their gifts and wishing each other Merry Christmas.
D13 later asked W if W was coming to my family's house on Christmas Day. I'd previously told her she was welcome and it was also fine if she had other plans. W opted to join us. D13 was happy. I felt as I have when I've invited a friend to join my family when their plans fell through or they'd otherwise be alone (which W would've done due to much of her family being sick). I lost a friend to suicide on a holiday many years ago whose loneliness got the better of him. That experience left me with a "thing" about people I know being alone on a major holiday.
I observed a few things. Everyone had a good time. W also commented that next year we should leave our dog at home so that W will worry less about it snatching food (which it didn't). Given discussions about D, I didn't respond since my understanding we won't be together at that point. W made a similar, future-oriented comment later (about food or drink to bring next year) in the evening that I can't fully recall. To me, both felt like temperature checks. Neither of them required a reply from me so, in the spirit of DBing, I just noted that she made them without assigning further value to them.
This morning, D13 and W talked about how much they enjoyed yesterday. We had five family dogs running around, ate well, drank, laughed, and stayed in the moment. I slept like a rock. Splurged on some more expensive coffee, and started the time-honored tradition of assembling some of D13s gifts. I also threw on "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" which is a tradition my dad and I started long ago. I'm out the door to attend a birthday party solo tonight. I'm also going out with my oldest friends in a few days as part of another tradition.
DnJ, you'll hopefully be proud to know that I'm following your sage advice and making myself comfortable in Limboland!
