Christmas morning. Coffee, frozen coffee cake. Heated in the toaster oven. I watched the birds come and go to the bird feeder outside my kitchen window. Murphy beside me. His tail twitching.

Feeling uneasy. As if I was about to step on unstable ground. As if something was expected. Something I wasn't sure that I had the courage to do.

Neither Sid nor I are particularly religious and yet we observed the traditional holidays of our parents' faiths. Hanukkah. Christmas. Sometimes together. Sometimes separately.

New Years was the holiday that we always shared. A time to be together for a quiet dinner and then invite our friends to a celebration.

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