Christmas has come early for me this year. 

I make every effort to keep Christmas in my heart, but that giddy feeling that comes with the snap in the air and preparation for time off with family has already hit before the first day off from work has arrived. Why?  Because my entire family is together now that my older boys are home from college.  About a month ago, the I suppose the eldest gathered up enough nerve to ask me how I felt about he and his younger brother--only by 21 months-- going west to visit their biological father for Thanksgiving.  It was not easy but it was only right to give them the go-ahead. After all, their Dad and I divorced when they were one and three, and he hasn't had a full Thanksgiving holiday with them since.  Now, at 19 and 18, they had put their heads together and devised a plan of which I am proud: go see Dad at Thanksgiving, but meet up at home the weekend before so that we--their step-dad, their 10-year-old "baby" brother" and I-- could have some family time. So, I thank God for young men who are considerate. I'll even go so far as to say compassionate: they know how sentimental their mom is.

So, after they checked in with friends here at home, attended their high school alma mater's basketball game, and devoured a few of the home-baked cookies I had just taken out of the oven, we left the house headed to see the new movie "The Blind Side" in lieu of staying in to while away the time with a movie, spread out throughout the house, or perhaps play a game of Taboo. (At least, that's how I envisioned it.  I wasn't expecting Normal Rockwell, but remember, I told you I was giddy so my sugarplum visions were running amok.)

The Blind Side is a story of the unlikely coming together of the Tuohy family and a young, disadvantaged man. Thanks to Mrs. (Lee Anne) Tuohy's intuition, Michael Oher's luck changed one night when she decided that he would stay with her family because it was merely the right thing to do. While that youth was an impoverished youth from the other side of town, and the family was white and well-to-do, they became his legal guardians and advocated for him through the remainder of his high school career. When it was time for college, this now new pro-football draftee was prepared thanks to the unconditional love and support that the Tuohy family had given him. Cast as a tough but loving character, leaving Michael at college was tough for Leigh Anne Tuohy. Although the story was moving, it was at that point that it became a tear-jerker for me. Just one and a half years ago, we took our eldest to college, and this past summer, had to play it all out again when our middle son matriculated to college. I could hardly bear to watch and relive those dreaded moments again. But time stands still for no one, and I know that it is a blessing to have the opportunity to even send your progeny to college.

I shared with my sons that my take on the movie was that the titling of "The Blind Side" had a double-entendre.  While Michael's role in his position as a football player was to cover the quarterback's blind side, he was also blindsided by this family's courageous love and the outcome that one decision one night had created for his life.

My sons' thoughtful decision to create family time blindsided me.  For me, that's the spirit of Christmas. I'm thinking they get it.