Christmas Dinner

At the head of the table sits Poppop, or Joseph Michael Adametz Senior. He's missing a finger, a whole finger. An older man now, he's quick to smile and relatively patient with the grandkids. His jokes can get borderline dirty, but his life story is one of the greatest tales of redemption one could hear.

To his right sits Mommom. She makes the greatest cookies, pies, etc. Everyone knows Jane Adametz. She's got an eye for color and elegant design, but she filled five out of six salt and pepper shakers with salt. After dinner, she's quite a character.

On Poppop's left we find James Adametz, second oldest son. He loves technology and he's in the process of building his own home. An extremely intelligent man, he doesn't speak without a reason, and the things he says really mean something.

To James's left sits his wife, Christine. She loves color, in rooms and people. She values learning and took the responsibility of educating her three children. She can intelligently talk about any subject, because she actually does know something about everything.

As we continue around the table to Christine's left, we meet Virginia, Ginny Adametz, she married into the family. Nurturer of three lovely children (if I may say so myself), she works part time, does devotions every morning, likes to shop, and sacrifices extreme amounts of time, emotion, and money on her family.

At the other end of the table sits Joseph Michael Adametz Junior. Usually, this eat is occupied by Ralph Rennard, father of Virginia. He joins the Adametz family for many holidays and consequential elaborate meals. None of his four children live in his state, so he makes his home with his daughter and her husband Joe Jr. for part of the year and spends the rest of his time visiting and hosting his many relatives and grandchildren. He has hearing problems, so speaking to him is like a constant game of whisper down the alley, and brings joy wherever he goes.

Back to Joseph Junior. He's one of the hardest workers you'll ever meet. He's driven because he is the earthly provider for his family and he fully embraces that role. He works because he loves his family and loves to see them happy, even if it means more stress and less sleep. He can be a bit intimidating, but he loves to cuddle and on the inside he has a soft spot for his daughters, and a kindred spirit with his son.

Next we encounter Uncle Pat. Quiet, but enormously facetious, he doesn't loose an opportunity to say something witty. You can never quite figure him out, but he's kind and helpful.

And last we come to Joy McGuire. Auntie. Auntie loves everybody and everybody loves Auntie. It's like a rule. She like to hunt and fish alongside her husband, Pat (mentioned above), but her nails always have a fresh coat of polish on them and her hair is constantly in that "perfectly tousled look." Any movie star would kill for Auntie's looks and charisma. And I think she's the one lady in the world that can pull off a Christmas sweater, complete with 3D special effects.

Everyone under 21 sits at the kid table. Next year, it will be everyone under 22, because there really isn't any moving up or anything. The kids will always be the kids, and the adults will always be that far-off ideal of being grown-up. And because they get to pretend, they sit at the adult table.