A month later and many of the Christmas and birthday presents are absorbed into the rest of my things.
Wonderful gifts, but now part of my ordinary life; the "newness" expiring.
Except for one simple memory of my brother's surprise return home Christmas Eve.
Such a great energy touched all of our interactions as the five us reunited in my parent's childhood home.
This time together to laugh and to talk and to repair our bonds truly shapes our relationships today.
This closeness between my siblings is the gift I never knew I needed.
