10TH (AND FINAL?) YEAR

One of my most prized possessions sits upon the fire place mantel for all of each December then disappears again for 11 months. It is my collection of Aspen on Santa's knee pics. She turns nine in exactly one week. The first pic in the series she was only 1 week old. This year marked #10. What made this one nice was when Aspen saw the collection being put up she commented that this year she wanted her brother to be in the pic with her (just as he was in pics 1-3). I called him up and he readily agreed to put aside an afternoon to help make it happen. Today was that day. And as they climbed out of old Santa's lap I realized that a beloved and cherished 9 year tradition had likely just come to a close.