Christmas Eve is just about the best part of the holiday for me; it is not Christmas until we are at the family gathering held every year at my dad's or with one of the aunts. There is food, there is the present exchange, there is gossip, there is picking on cousins, and all of the best old family stories are brought out.

This year, there was no Granddad, and that left a big hole in the living room. The kids did their best to fill it with lots of noise, and that helped. Tomorrow there will be no crocheted slippers from Grandmom under the tree, either, and no handmade stuffed animals for the kids, and no phone call from Florida. Grandpop will be here, though, and that will be something.

But for tonight, we have cookies out for Santa, apple slices on the porch for the reindeer, the A Christmas Story marathon on TV, and two kids quickly falling asleep upstairs. It's still the best night of the year; it's just a little more bittersweet.