On Christmas day, no matter what, we still have so much to say to each other even till 1 AM. And at the end of the day, half of my family was dancing in my grandma's tiny living room to Uptown Funk while the other were scattered about the crammed house playing board games. And at 9 PM the leftovers were reheated, everyone loud, boisterous, glowing, in slippers and pajamas. And at 10 PM all of the cousins were braiding each other's hair. And at 12 AM It's A Wonderful Life added to the glow of the night. Somehow at 1 AM I was making hot chocolate for my cousins. By 2 AM even Zeke, the wild one, was curled beside the tree beneath one of grandma's tattered quilts. We were at peace that night.

-RAY

On Christmas Eve our caroling around the piano was more raucous and wild than any other in the midwest region. Most of us were scarcely even paying attention to the pitch, we were just happy enough singing together. The beer bottles mingled with the hot chocolate on the tabletop; the conversations blended together, rowdy and laughing; the old blue-veined hands held the young rosy ones; the gingerbread house collapsed but none of us cared. At 1 AM, gathered around and hushed by the familiarity of A Christmas Story, we felt protected.

-RAY

Dec 23, 2014. That week of christmas all I really wanted to do was make a real pile on the floor amidst pillows and blankets watching Christmas movies with my family and, as seen, take a walk at dusk: rowdy, rosy nosed, warm from the laughter. So I did just that. These people get me like nobody else.

-RAY