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Happy Holidays!

We have a beautiful tradition at the Archive of gathering together for a festive Christmas luncheon. It is a pot-luck, where everyone brings something delicious, their signature dishes.

This year was no exception, the table was loaded with pork and sauerkraut, bacon wrapped blood sausage with lingonberry jam, potato salad, Rosolje beet salad, Waldorf salad, herring, baked salmon, cheesecake, Tiramisu, poundcake and real Estonian gingerbread cookies straight from homeland...

We sang Christmas carols in the glow of candlelight. The bigscreen tv was magically transformed to a flickering fireplace via technology trickery. Indrek Ojamaa had fashioned a special Christmas tree from a birch log and fir branch, complete with Christmas lights. Imbi Sepp recited this poem, that perfectly captured the mood of our party, and is the theme of our daily work at the Archive:

 

My Christmas Card

I have a list of people I know, all logged in my address book,
And now at Christmas time I have gone to take a look.

And that is when I realize that these names are a part,
Not of the book they're stored in, but of my heart.
For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme.
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life, a lot more than you think!
For once I have met somebody, the years cannot erase,
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.
So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine,
Of names upon an address list, forgotten in between.

For when I write a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It's because you're on the list of people I'm indebted to.
And whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some way you have been a part of shaping things I do.
And now that Christmas has come, I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer is meeting people like you.