I Missed...

Last night I missed being there with...

Grandma's cookies.
Cousins' banter.
Brother's laugh.
Family dinner.
Aunts.
Uncles.
Grandparents.
Mom.
Dad.
Sister-in-law.

Last night I remembered...

Countless Christmas celebrations with extended family.
Grandma's cookies being passed around two or three tables strung together to fit us all.
Baby cousins--then toddler ones--then bigger ones.
Brother's laugh.
Growing up around aunts, uncles, grandparents.
Unwrapping presents by a long row of stockings and a tree covered in tinsel at Grandma's house.
Falling asleep in the car after a long day filled with the ones I love.

It's not always easy to live far away from the family you grew up with.

And sometimes it makes me sad to be the one that's missing.