Hey there, Glover Gardens peeps! Merry Christmas Eve 2025 and I hope each and every one of you are living your best life at this very moment.
I’m sharing some quick photos from a “Christmas Eve, Observed” tiny family party last night, which was just seven people, including The Grill-Meister and me, and how we packed up the lovely leftovers and repurposed them tonight for Actual Christmas Eve, just the two of us.
We’re empty-nesters this year, with our next-gen peeps going their own ways; one with his own growing family having a first-time, just-the-fam Christmas day at home with the tiny tots and his wife (instead of traveling) and one enjoying the holiday in the Northeast with his girlfriend’s family. We had lovely times with all of them recently and rejoice in their rich and full lives. That’s us just after Thanksgiving, having a PERFECT family day at Herrmann Park in Houston.
Last night, it was just a few of us at Glover Gardens, my 94-year-old mother-in-law, our Musical Millennial and his lovely partner/girlfriend Amanda, and my cousin Richard and his wife Laura. It was a wonderful multi-generational get-together, and we all shared our memories of past Christmas Eves.
After dinner, there was a quick pop-up concert by our young musicians. They took a request, and I was gifted with the tune “I’ll Be Seeing You”, which reminds me so much of my Dad, because he loved the Glenn Miller version, which was a big hit back in the day. I always cry when Amanda sings that song; it’s a happy-ish cry, perhaps bittersweet, because I know how much my Dad would have loved to hear her sing this precious song, and because the song itself is about the pain of being apart from someone dear, with lines like “I’ll find you in the music, I’ll find you in the sky”.
Speechless, I was, after listening. My Dad was glowing above in heaven, I know; perhaps he was sitting with Glenn Miller and they were humming along.
About the food: here’s our spread:
This morning, The Grill-Meister and I packed up the truck with our Christmas presents and the leftovers of this lovely Christmas Eve grazing meal and headed to Gumbo Cove in Mississippi, where we are having a very quiet holiday.
We repurposed the leftovers from last night, but only after Happy Cocktail on the Deck.
This was what the second night of this extravaganza looked like:
Each bite was exquisite, especially as we reminisced about the magic of the night before.
Merry Christmas to all of you, and please do share details of your own Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the comments. We are a global village of interconnected souls, which is never more clear than at Christmas time.
© 2025 Glover Gardens
Merry Christmas to you as well. 🙂