Advent Calendar--Holiday Travel

As a child growing up we never traveled more than 15 miles for Christmas and that was to see my maternal grandmother.  Christmas was always at home.  After getting married I lived 120 miles away from my parents which was only a two hour trip unless the weather was bad.  In bad weather the canyon road through the mountains could be treacherous.  My dad would tell us to not come down if bad weather.  He said he would worry too much.  Instead we would visit by phone and we would plan another trip when the weather was good.
When we moved over 500 miles from my parents going back for Christmas was really hard.  The first Christmas we paid for my parents to ride the train from their home to a city 150 miles away from us.  Then we had five hours of driving to go pick them up and bring them to our home.  Traveling at Christmas can be hard.  The weather can create difficult and even sometimes life-threatening travel conditions.  Then packing all your gifts plus the things you need for any trip makes it challenging for a large family.  I know families who will travel for Thanksgiving, but who choose to stay home for Christmas.  In today's world with telephones, cell phones, and web cameras you can be in touch on Christmas even though you are not there in person.  You can give your hugs when you visit at other times of the year.

Whether traveling or talking by phone or on the web Christmas is a time to let other family members know you love them.