Happy Holidays! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Sharon and I spent our holiday back home in Chicago at my parents' place. On Christmas eve, they hosted a dinner with included my mom's sisters as well as my brother-in-law and Sharon's cousin and boyfriend. Here are some the photos from the night:

Here's the Stockey family ( Andrew, Dad, Mom and Brian )

Sharon with her "sister on her mother's side", Maria

The Bey sisters ( Rae, Jean and my mom, Elzabeth )

It was special just to be home with so much family, but the moment that I will always remembered happened later that evening. My Dad showed all of us this DVD which had a film taken back in 1963. It was a two minute clip of my parents - at age 25!

They were just married and my father just got his CPA license ( an amazing a rare fee for a black man in 1963 ). They looked so young and so much in love. My mother was beautiful and my dad looked like a kid. They were in their kitchen preparing dinner and my dad grabbed my mom and started dancing - to what I have no idea since there was no volume. I could see on the TV behind then was President Kennedy speaking. While I have seen many photos of my parents as young people, I had never seen video of the two .. and it struck in a way that made me so happy and a bit tearful at the same time. Tears of joy I guess as my parents approach their 45th wedding anniversary this year.

May the magic of the holiday season touch you the way it touched me on Christmas eve.