Later on, we'll conspire

as we sit by the fire....to face unafraid, the plans that we made.............

Standing in our socks, up to our knees in a winter wonderland.

My neice and her mate, along with their four children (all under six years of age), lost their home to a furnace fire last night about eleven. They live in very northern Michigan. They are all okay, but the four quilts Neice made for each kid for christmas, along with almost everything else they had, is gone. Poof.

I kept telling people and will continue to do so, that it's all just stuff and stuff just burns up. That the only thing important here is how we love and care for each other. The kids just got that lesson burned into their hearts. I hate it.

I hate knowing I'm too far away to help. I hate knowing how they feel right down to the bottom of their hearts. I love knowing that their friends and family there are caring for them today. And I love knowing that when it's all forgotten in six months and they are still struggling to get their home replaced and needs filled that I will remember and I will be there for them, along with all the rest of us that have stood there.

So Christmas just got a little warmer in my heart. We have a family down!!! Circle the wagons! And I love knowing all the family here is in the circle surrounding them with signs of their love.

So hug the one you're with, and be glad you are safe today, in your own place and out of the weather. It's something to be thankful for that we forget too often.