After the gifts were opened.  After the dinner was consumed.  After the families had gone home.  The holiday get together has ended.  All the decorations have done their job.  All the pressure was off and I found a funny feeling overtaking me.  Like a child laying in an inner tube floating slowly with the current.  No need to paddle along.  No need to go faster because there is no race to be run.  Just floating, turning in lazy circles and relaxing.  Very soon the life of appointments, doctors,  and hospitals will resume.  But for now I just float. 

What will this next year bring?  Will the many problems of this last year follow us into the new one?  Will my loved ones find work, with decent benefits?  Will good health be a part of their life style?  Will happiness rule their lives?  What answer will there be?  I don’t know. I can only keep floating until the answer appears.