Old traditions with new people

My first Christmas in another country than my family is hard. I have been apart from my family over the holidays before, so it's not that so much. But this is the first time I have been 15,000 miles and thirteen time zones away. But, unlike people in the past who have gone on missionary service, I am blessed to have the Internet for connection back to the homeland. I chatted with the fam yesterday, and we've got it planned to connect at 8 AM Christmas Day (which, for them, is 6 PM Christmas Eve), so at least I'll get to see them and hear them as they open gifts and enjoy the time together, even if I am not there to be able to physically touch them.

Part of my therapy this season has been to share some of my old family traditions with new friends here in this place. One of these is the Modine Waffle Supper. This is perhaps the first time anyone has ever written about this with all capital letters. But it is a tradition in my family to eat waffles for dinner on Christmas Eve. I didn't do this on Christmas Eve, nor did I do it for dinner, but I still shared it with new friends. I invited my girlfriend and the ladies from her office to enjoy the Modine Waffle Lunch with me yesterday, December 23. Part of the Waffle Supper (or Lunch) is to have a wide array of waffle topping choices. There is the usual maple syrup, but we like to have apple butter, strawberry jam, etc., along with chokecherry syrup (an Idaho staple). Yesterday we had maple syup, blueberry preserves, peanut butter, and chocolate sauce. The point of this, for the heartiest waffle eaters, is to enjoy one waffle square with each of the topping offerings. So I had one with maple syrup, one with blueberry jam, one with chocolate sauce, and one with peanut butter--then another one with maple syrup just for fun. One of the ladies topped all her waffles with salt and pepper. I'm not sure what to do with that one, but like I told her, if that's what she likes then go for it.

I was blessed to have friends share this time with me, even if I didn't get to do this with family. And they were homemade waffles, as opposed to the greasy spoon ones I had in New Jersey the last time I was separated from my family over the holidays. No good. Having these friends has gone a long way toward battling against and ultimately triumphing over the depression that could very well have attached on to me this season, especially since I am so far away from the ones I love. And I also have people I love here. That makes a huge difference.