Aunt Maggie doesn't even miss a beat, just squeezing me back fiercely as we continue to sway together to the music. "No thanks needed, kiddo. This year was just as much for me as it was for you."
She pulls back slightly to grin at me, her eyes positively sparkling with unabashed joy. "Now come on, we've got all night to dance like a couple of crazy fools! Let's make the most of it."
With a whoop of laughter, she breaks away from our hug and starts twirling around the living room with childlike abandon, her movements wild and free. I can't keep the wide smile off my face as I watch her for a beat, this human embodiment of pure, radiant energy.
Then, feeling more uninhibited and present than I have in as long as I can remember, I fling myself back into the revelry right alongside her. We
