The children in my niece Terry and nephew Mike's families knew joy unbounded this Christmas. Because some relatives couldn't make it to Richmond until the day after Christmas, the traditional gathering at Mike's house was postponed one day so we could all celebrate together.
So Carlos, Rowan and Milagros unwrapped still more presents on the morning after Christmas. In this picture from yesterday morning, Carlos has just opened a box of Legos, which also seems to fascinate Rowan. She's wearing her Christmas skirt. Jenny, her mother, is watching. Carlos is my great nephew, and Rowan is my great-great niece.
After feeding us a sumptuous Christmas dinner, Mike's wife, Becky, sent me off with a homemade present I'll enjoy for some time -- a jar of pickled figs she put up herself.
There is cause for celebration on the day after Christmas. In England it's Boxing Day, so called, some say, because it was traditionally a day off for the servants. The gentry would eat boxed lunches and dinners of cold cuts and buffet items prepared by the servants in advance.
December 26 is also St. Stephen's Day in the Catholic and Anglican churches, commemorating the first Christian martyr.
All things considered, and despite the fact that my childhood was long ago, I think I like the idea of celebrating Christmas Day twice.
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Christmas celebrations last even longer at our house; they last, in fact, the entire "Twelve Days of Christmas." The tree stays up until January 6 - how else can the wise man find us for even more presents? When my mother was a child she got presents on Christmas Day of course, but she got the biggest and best presents on Jan. 6. We don't follow that tradition, but we do "keep Christmas" until then.
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