Merry Christmas.

Except it doesn’t feel so merry yet. Last week I had dental surgery, to the tune of $6,000. Robert has come home from work today . . . with Shingles. Grandma wants to die and talks about it incessantly. A plumber is upstairs right this minute completing a $700 repair. Last week we had to buy a new dishwasher.  

Sigh. Life happens, even three days before Christmas.

Still, there is balance, even when the scales tilt. After a stressful preparatory season, the choir program at church was beautiful. They sang well and the listeners seemed moved. The singers watched me and responded to what my hands were trying to communicate. We made music together. That alone is a minor miracle.

Other events might not be called miraculous, but they are joyful. While eating dinner last night with friends, a group of carolers stopped by. What could be better than smells of spiced yams wafting through the kitchen while listening to “Silent Night” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” And did I mention we join together as friends and family every week for Sunday dinner? Laughing, discussing, solving the world’s problems.

Then yesterday I had lunch with some of my favorite women in the world. We call it therapy lunch, because we have a tacit agreement to talk about anything and share each others' lives in a unique way.

And I can’t forget the gift delivered by my neighbor. After having the tooth procedure last week, my post-surgical instructions said I shouldn’t have carbonated sodas. I called the dentist’s office, and the receptionist told me I should refrain for two weeks. Really? Two weeks? That seemed like a long time.

On Sunday morning, I asked a dentist in the choir about this (who also happens to be an excellent tenor). He said that didn’t sound right and mentioned that his instructions said nothing about carbonated beverages. Later that day, he came to my door with a brown paper bag wrapped in a red ribbon. Inside . . . a can of diet Coke. It may be my favorite present of the year.

So . . . even though life is messy, bills never end, and health can be fragile, the little joys of life and minor miracles are enough. Merry? Maybe not. But Christmas always brings the promise of better things ahead.

Merry Christmas.