Christmas Eve will Find Me . . . where the Lovelight Gleams!

From my first holiday with my husband's family over 38 years ago, our holiday tradition is all about Christmas Eve. We gather family and very close friends and celebrate the season, along with my husband's birthday which just happens to be Christmas Eve.

This day has become so much entwined into our lives, that years ago when my college-age son was invited to a pre-Christmas vacation in St. Thomas, he declined . . . just in case his flight was delayed and he missed our dinner together. It is a time for celebrating our strength and happiness as a whole unit of family and extended family.

I have to admit that some of the Cuban traditions introduced to me on that first Christmas Eve so many years ago were different than what I had been exposed to . . . I still leave the Cuban traditions to our aunt with her secret mojo sauce!  Her fried plantains never make it past the first hour of being together.

Years ago, when dinner was over we would roll up the carpet to dance.  My daughter's friends would come by for salsa lessons. One of my fondest memories is watching my father and mother in law strutting their merengue stuff! "Dancing with the Stars" had nothing over these two!

Okay, so we all cannot fit sitting down for dinner in the dining room, but for a couple of hours we are all in the same place.

Hope this Christmas Eve finds you . . . where the lovelight gleams.