On Christmas morning, I’m awaken by my grandchildren in my daughter’s home. She has invited me (and her siblings) to spend the holidays in her home. My son and my other daughter have come happily, all bringing along their spouses and children. My daughter, Bee, is the only child to have a home local big enough to house us all, and opens her doors every year.

I’m pulled downstairs to the kitchen, with no less than three grandchildren pulling, the youngest of course, because the oldest are still comfortably sleeping in their beds. I reluctantly head to the kitchen because even though I’m not a great cook, everyone appreciates my cooking and the fact that we can all do it together. I ask the children what they want for breakfast, and I get varying responses from cereal to waffles and, as always, ask them to come to a consensus on one great meal. As always, it ends up being pancakes, bacon, eggs, broccoli and hot chocolate.

My husband and children wake up to the smell of coffee brewing and slowly stagger downstairs exhausted from playing games the night before. They each sit at the table, where a cup of coffee to their liking is waiting, not too hot, and not too cold. The grandchildren serve their parents food, sloppily at best, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

They can’t wait until they get to open their presents. As my children quickly eat their food as to not have the children wait any more, we all glide into our designated seats in the living room, surrounding the tree. Each child has one significant gift, a few smaller ones and a stocking filled with goodies. The adults only have a stocking, but good things come in small packages.

The children rip through their presents and thank the adults in the room. They quickly take their gifts and go play in the other room, each determining the best of the best and the ins and outs of their presents. This lasts for a couple of hours, until they decide they want to go outside to play ~ tag is the game of choice these days.

As I sit there with my husband and children, talking about the happenings in each of their lives, I’m grateful to know that they are happy, we are together, we love each other and they are all flourishing in their lives.

We see our children at various times of the year, but for the most part, my husband and I are touring the world, with small homes in a couple of locations. My husband’s body care line took off, and I became a real estate attorney, which has afforded us a successful life.

Each of our children worked with one or both of us during their upbringing and understand how to build and maintain their own business. Bunny opted to teach, for he has a love for children that I never quite understood. Bee became a successful business owner, sold it for a ton of cash, and has a new thriving business. Butterfly is still finding her way, but has graduated college and is working with her sister, for now.

See, when I’m really old, I hope to look back at my life and know that I…

1. Achieved my dreams
2. Raised Happy, Healthy Children
3. Kept My Marriage Alive
4. Left a Legacy

This is the picture of what I hope it looks like, or something like it.

This has been another edition of Finish the Sentence Friday.