“What should we do this week while you are here,” asked my daughter Andrea during the start of our family Christmas vacation in Maine.

Andrea is a planner and is always on the go. She wanted to make sure her mother and sister Maria had the best possible visit with family. She rattled off possible Maine activities and places we might like to see.

“So what do you most want to do?” Andrea asked us.

Maria and I had the same answer. We wanted our version of “doing.” And it wasn’t anything on Andrea’s possible activity list.

We wanted to continue sitting in front of the fireplace and talking with our family.

It was almost a scene from “Little House on the Prairie” or some other feel-good TV sitcom.

This wasn’t a vacation where we each went our separate ways. Instead, we all gravitated to the family room where a roaring fire welcomed us and certainly encouraged us to stay there. It was a hearty 2 degrees outside our Maine retreat so the fireplace was especially welcome.

But that wasn’t the main attraction as I gathered with my two daughters, son-in-law Greg and my three grandchildren. We were simply a family that has craved conversation and interaction with one another.

If you live close to your family members and get to be with your grandkids on a regular basis you might not understand our simple joy at being together. But for me, our little gathering in the family room was the best Christmas present ever.

Like many families, we did have a gift exchange and we all received some really nice presents. But we knew the best gift would not be put in a box. It was sharing the love and family stories as we gathered around the fireplace.

Seeing how my delightful little grandchildren grew into such smart and even more delightful adults was a special treat for me. We live far apart and seldom can all get together. In my mind all I could do was picture their New York lifestyle. I had no idea what they were doing at work.

Our fireplace chats changed some of that. We got to know and to appreciate our different worlds.

After we broke for a delicious home-cooked meal we wanted to go back to our fireplace chat. Andrea asked if I was sure I didn’t want to go to the charming nearby town that got rave reviews from visitors.

We can go see the sites any time. We can join in a whirlwind of fun activity. We could. But it wouldn’t mean as much to me as just listening to our three grandkids tell us about their lives. Or hearing Andrea’s husband, Greg, tell us about the making of the “Song Sung Blue” movie that he was fortunate to see. That’s because the movie version that should be finished in a few months was based on Greg’s “Song Sun Blue” documentary that won best of show at least a half-dozen film festivals.

Greg told us how welcoming and down to earth the movie director and stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson were to them on the set. If you get a chance to see the movie when it comes out, it should be a worthwhile experience.

I’ll tell you more about that another time, but for now I want to bask in the simple joy of being with family.

I’m not someone who relishes cold weather, and I don’t even like snow. But Christmas Day touched my heart as the day dawned with what looked like a fairy tale scene. Tiny flakes of snow danced in the air and decorated the tall pine trees with a winter wonderland coating. It was the first snow I had witnessed in 20 years. We all agreed the snow was a perfect touch for Christmas.

All in all, the entire week was a gift for all of us.

The first inclination for all of us was to say “Let’s do it again.”

But in our heart of hearts, we know the same kind of family Christmas experience might never happen again. My daughter and grandkids already have their eye on possible new jobs and more foreign adventures.

When I was growing up, my family held yearly reunions at Knoebel’s Grove. We all lived close enough to get together often and we didn’t dream of foreign adventures.

But I will cherish all the more the memory of our Maine Christmas and fireside family talks.

Here’s wishing you a year of what most makes you happy and memories to sustain you.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcastnet