Probably this year more so than others I have a sense of real thanksgiving.  From my parents who very supportively helped me on this haphazard road, to my distant relatives who crossed an ocean a century ago, to a new love, I now feel part of the crossings.  I suppose I have engaged in communion with the ghosts of Christmas past as well, as I have crossed the Lánchíd a few times this holiday season.  As I have set my gaze in the path of the eyeless lions at its helm, and seen the lights of Parliament bright as candles.

And at first, I wanted to write about the differences in holiday traditions.  How odd it is for me to imagine a baby Jesuska flying in the gifts instead of Santa.  But instead I’m sentimentalizing.  Opting for connections instead.  Despite distances, I have been welcomed into surrogate families, secondary homes, new first countries.  And I realize how fortunate I am, and how brilliant the world can be, at times, regardless of era or season.

I’ll be in Dublin for the next week, so I’ll write again on the flip side.  Thank you, dear internet, for another blessed year.  So from Budapest, with love, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Kellemes karácsonyt és boldog új évet.