What a great day this turned out to be. I was dreading it a bit, since I missed my kids so much. Christmas is all about family. Im missing mine at the moment, but we’ve been over that. I woke up early and sent my staff all texts with Merry Christmas in their various languages (Hindi, Tagalog, Arabic, etc…) Then worked out for an hour and immediately afterwards played squash with Baraq for another 90 min. By the time I was finished I was absolutely knackered but what a great workout it was.
I went over to Tanya’s house a little later for Christmas dinner. I was a bit uncomfortable at first because I didn’t want them to invite me just because they are being polite or feeling sorry for me. They know all about my situation and how much I miss the family I used to have. They invited me as one of their own. I truly felt welcome. I scrambled to buy all the sibling’s family and Khalifa gifts, I couldn’t go in empty handed. So here I am carrying in all these gifts bags and Tanya’s four year old son greets me…”hello Uncle Rick” That made me feel at ease right away. There must have 25 Shaheens there with all the kids and grandkids. There was butler wearing a tuxedo and three maids. It was a first class (upper class) affair. This is how the other half lives…and I could get very used to it. Very very classy. The food was wonderful too. Just like our traditional American Christmases. The conversation and company was top notch. I brought along a copy of Twas the Night Before Christmas in Bahrain which I wrote last night and posted on the blog. They just loved it. Nadia wanted to read it to all the children before they opened their presents. There was even chatter of wanting to publish it in the paper. It made me feel good that they appreciated it. They even said they wanted to save it to read next year.
I was touched as they remembered me, and made sure I had something under the tree. The Shaheen siblings get along so well together. This is what I envision family being like. It was nice to be a part of that. And get this, Khalifa and his ex-wife (the kids mother) were sharing the Christmas meal together. They were both there. They actually have become quite good friends. That is a dream for me. Im not sure if my ex will ever stop hating me…but I sincerely hope she does so for the sake of the children. Khalifa and his wife aren’t even Christians, and they get a long fabulously as exes…. We don’t have that excuse.
After four hours of being totally comfortable, I felt like it was Christmas. I was truly loved. The ache in my heart temporarily subsided. I gratefully said goodbye and went home. I met up with the Romanian, and again we had a wonderful time. Lots of flirting but there is no chance of a relationship there. We are just friends. We strolled around the Seef Mall and purchased knickknacks and saw a movie. Rock N Rolla is the latest Guy Ritchie film. I was a bit disappointed as Ritchie is one of my favorite directors.
I’m heading to bed early tonight to go to church in the morning. I tried calling my kids several times last night (Christmas eve) and several times today. The phone goes straight to voice mail as it must be turned off. I guess I’m not going to be able to speak to my children on Christmas day.
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