Write on Wednesdays - Coming Home {To You This Christmas}

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Coming Home (To You This Christmas)

The snow had fallen steadily in London and the shires the days before Christmas. The ground was covered in white. Christmas morning was a flurry of excitement as children were opening gifts and being told to straighten up their shirts. Dogs were being let out and turkeys were being put in the oven.

Dressed in a black cashmere jumper with a pretty beaded icicle on the front, I could not have felt further from home. Here I was sitting in a snow covered church with angels overhead, the only church in England to have carved angels with their wings open, listening to a beautiful liturgy, watching light dance and twirl on real fir trees and smelling their earthy scent. It just didn't feel real.

Oceans and continents away my family sat together in the Australian heat. Dipping into the swimming pool, eating mangoes and getting sunburnt. My homesick heart was with them. But, my heart too had its wings wide open, like the angels in the church. I was away from home, yes, but I was amongst friends who were like family. It was a time like no other and I will hold that memory in my Christmas treasure chest forever.

The back story - if you have a few more minutes.

When we lived in London, we met some people who happened to live just down the road. They were the kind of friends who were always keen to have us over, they were our family away from home. We spent many nights on their couches drinking wine, or tea, or coffee {or all three} and laughed and laughed and talked into the wee hours of the morning. We spent days sight seeing and had trips camping in Cornwall together. We celebrated all the seasons with them, it was a great time. I still mist up when I think of these two beautiful people. Even though we don't talk often, they are always in my heart. 

We were very blessed to spend Christmas with their family in Cambridgeshire. It was magical. The snow covered the fields around the sprawling farmhouse we stayed in. We went to church on Sunday morning in a church where angels were carved into the roof (with wings open) watching over the proceedings. We enjoyed walking through Sandringham and shared many laughs as we played board games. For a few nights, we were ensconced into another family, we saw quibbles and fights, stolen glances and secretive kisses. We ate turkey with bread sauce and hot puddings with custard. It will be a Christmas I never forget.

Each Christmas I say a prayer for that lovely family. They welcomed us into their home and showed us another side of Christmas. So, when we sit in the blinding heat of Australia eating mangoes, getting sunburnt and watching cricket, I think of them all sitting together in a cosy living room drinking mulled wine and playing board games. 

Life gives us gifts, and normally, those gifts are people.

Use Coming Home (To you this Christmas), a song by Achoo! Bless you, as your writing prompt. I heard this song on the radio this morning and besides thinking that this Sydney Folk Duo have come up with the cutest, sweetest name for a band ever, I also thought the song serves up an alternative to the more traditional tune of the season. Download the song for free here, write down the song title, set your timer for 5 minutes and write the first words that come into your head.