No Place Like Home for the Holidays

As it is my custom, whenever I come home to Cleveland I prefer to stay at the four-star "Chez Hagan" B&B, also known as Grandma Hagan's house. In these delux accomodations I have cable, a big bed, my own bathroom, and 24/7 laundry service. In fact, Grandma Hagan's charism seems to be doing the laundry: I can throw anything down into the basement and then, several hours later, it will re-appear folded and clean! If I believed in House Elves, I would suspect that my grandmother had help but, since I know better, I have to marvel at her laundering skill. I mean, I bet I could take all of my just-delivered clothes and throw them up into the air, wrinkle them up, and then throw them back downstairs and, by the time I wake up tomorrow, they'll be clean and folded!

As a novice, we prepared for Christmas with a Triduum retreat. Mirroring the pattern of the three-day Triduum, the Duns family celebrates Christmas with three days of festivities. On Christmas Eve my Uncle Jack, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Melissa come over for dinner. In years past, my brother's friends usually show up at around 10:00 and one of them plays "When the Saints go Marching In" with alcohol-fueled abandon over and over until the wee hours of the morning.

Christmas Day is spent with my mother's family. They are afraid that I will write about the goings-on of the Hagan Family event, so I will remain silent (for now) and, when I download some pictures, I'll offer a pictographic essay detailing all of the sordid details.

Finally, yesterday was the St. Stephen's Day Open House. A good number of people came through the house during the evening and Michael and Brian English provided musical entertainment. Drew and Loretta, Adam and Nancy, and Patrick Gilday came over, too (guests of honor!) which was for each them the first time they've seen our family home. There are videos and pictures coming from this event which will be posted soon.

So that about does it. I'm heading up to Detroit for our formation gathering on Friday and I hope to have a good time there. Things are genuinely quiet around here and I am grateful as it has given me the opportunity to catch up on sleep and some pleasure reading. If I get a chance, I'll put up some more YouTube videos from our parties. Until then, Peace!