I was in second grade when my father Bryan and mother Alice divorced. We were living in Heppner, Oregon. After the divorce, we settled at the Dad's house in Milton-Freewater where we all went through high school. Mom settled in Pendleton. Both parents started new lives. Both re-married.
Since the split, we've experienced one of the effects of a divorce on family: the Double Christmas.
Each year, on some kind of rotating system, we'd find a way to open presents with family in two homes. Christmas Eve on Jacquelyn Street, Christmas Morning on Gopher Flats lane.
Of course, the Double Christmas doesn't mean two Major Gifts. Despite the divorce, the parents still talk. Nevertheless, it's really nice to have two rounds of Christmas, each with its own unique set of traditions, its own traditional board game, its own kind of pie or cake.
It gets more complicated as the kids leave home when they're of age. We're lucky to get all of us together at once. This year, it happened. Phil, Chris and I are are here until Christmas Day, when the three of us brothers will drive across the state for Christmas No. 2, this one in Vernonia.
The Divorce was confusing and difficult for us as kids back in Heppner, and it certainly wasn't always smooth sailing as we all moved on. But for us, having two wings of the family is just how it is, how it's been for most of our lives. So it's not something we frown about. Instead, we enjoy the good stuff that comes from it. Like having a Double Christmas.
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