Dear Christmas,

Well, hello again. Last year, was a bit of a cliff hanger, wasn’t it? You came and went in a blur of crushing emotions, whirlwind appointments and medical procedures as cancer arrived just in time for the holidays and settled in as an unwanted house guest.

During our time together, I was hanging precariously, standing on the edge of a crumbling and uncertain future. Trying to find light in all the darkness. This year, things will be different.

I’ve decided not to participate in any frazzle, chaos, demands, or bonkers expectations of what you “should” look or feel like when you walk through the door. I will not be shopping frantically, or cooking for days in the sweltering Summer heat, or pushing beyond my emotional, physical or financial limits.

Instead, I’ll be celebrating your arrival with slow and gentle days, simple food, Christmas morning phone calls to far away family and friends, daily sunrise and sunset beach walks and salty, soul-reviving swims.

But mostly, I plan on simply just being here, in my little pocket of the world, with the magnificent people who grabbed and held my hands, when I felt like I was falling into the ocean, and who have nurtured and loved me back to life in a million little and big ways.

So come on in Christmas! There are magic days ahead and I’m so incredibly grateful to see you again.

Love Michelle