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I think I need to go back to the Friday Five where I listed my favorite holiday. I originally put Thanksgiving. And I do like it, but it's because there is no preparation, and I get a 4 day weekend after a 3 day work week. Can't beat that logic. However, Christmas Eve at my parent's home has been, for the past 20 years, a tradition that has come to mean more to all of us than Christmas Day itself. Every family member - my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and intendeds - all gather. There is a "no excuse" clause in our family. This IS the night for all to gather and talk and hug and laugh and cry and celebrate and eat together. The gifts, even by the children's standards, are secondary to the opening of presents. So in that regard, in my heart, Christmas Eve is right up there as a favorite. The only bad mark it gets is that it is usually surrounded by the stress of the holiday itself; The shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking.

Now there is a new holiday eve that threatens to become #1 in all of our minds. That's tonight's second annual Little Bro's New Year's Family Rocking Eve. All of the same players will be there, and then some. As with Christmas Eve, I believe there will be new players in the coming years.

Note the word "Players?" That's thanks to my Brother In Law, John Homes, who brings over the Royal Rummy sheet so we can engage in some serious penny ante sharking. Usually the younger cousins break off to the other room and play their 25 cent Careers game. If it's anything like last year, mine brew will keep tabs on how much I'm drinking (MOTH is the designated driver when I drink and vice versa), and continually make their cousins come "see" how drunk I am. What a side show I am.

At midnight, those of us who are fortunate enough to have our loved ones at our side will ring in the new year with kisses and hugs. We will spread those kisses and hugs all around and raise a toast to those who can't be with us yet.

MOTH and I have a very special memory of a New Year's Eve 6 years ago, snowed in at his home, winds whipping around the windows and doors. And the colder it got outside, the warmer and snugglier it got inside. We weren't able at that time to be together very often, and our families had not yet met us. We were in our own world, and as small as it was with just the two of us, it felt so full. How far we have come since then. From just the two of us to dozens of loving family members. I couldn't be happier in my life.

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