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oddly enough one of the highlights of this holiday season was a christmas eve visit to the snow covered cemetary where all four of my grandparents are interred. it is in a quiet country location in the massachusetts town where my dad grew up.

it was at the very last of sunset on a mostly cloudy day - casting a peaceful, soft light and creating shadows over the stones and trees. the moon had been visible almost all day and it gave the scene an otherworldy feel.

after b and i drank a champagne toast to nana (my mom's mom who i was closest to and who passed in 2008) and pa over their stone (which also has my parents' names already engraved on the back as this is also their final resting spot - bizarre to see), we drove back to the entrance. in order for me to stop at my dad's parents' grave i had to run through an unplowed lane. it was so quiet and still that all i could hear was the crunch of my feet in the deep snow - like i was all alone in a snowglobe diorama.

it was strangely exhilirating and comforting...like i was a child again running through the woods at play and imagining all of these people roaming about in their ghostly forms.

it was a completely unexpected result of this visit.

and i will remember it for a long time to come.