A Time for Remembering
It’s Christmas! All the hustle and bustle of the past few weeks is over. It is time to relax and enjoy the event that we have been building up to for so long now. Now is the time for all of us that are blessed with families to enjoy those families. They say Christmas is for children and maybe to some people that is true, but I think Christmas is for everyone, children and adults alike.
Christmas is a time for good times and good memories. Good memories of past Christmases whether they were in our childhood or whether they are of the years when our own children were growing up. Christmas always brings back good memories for me, especially the Christmases I have spent with my parents. My parents are both gone now, and this is the first Christmas I have had to spend without the two of them. My Mother passed away in 1984 and my Dad passed away in March of this year. But oh what good memories they have left behind. The stories about their Christmases when they were children in the early 1900’s, are stories that I will never forget. The fun Christmases that they provided for our family when we were growing up and how they enjoyed their grown children and grandchildren in their later years. As I go through my Mom and Dad’s things I find all the Christmas decorations that my Mother used year after year. The big red and white candy canes that she used to hang on her outside doors, the decorations for the tiny Christmas tree that they put up in their later years for their grand- children (and their adult children who became children again at Christmas time). I also found the handmade decorations that were made by their friends and grandchildren that were so special to them. I will never forget how their house looked at Christmas, and I will never forget how pleased they were with the gifts that were given to them. They made giving fun. These are just memories now, but they are great memories of two people that we all loved very much.
As our family gathers during this holiday season, there are empty spaces that nobody will ever be able to fill. Instead of the people who were so much a part of our lives, we are left with thoughts of the good times that we shared when we were all together. That is what Christmas is all about…remembering. It is very important for me to remember the members of my family that have left empty spaces in our lives, with happiness instead of sadness. They made the world a better place to live because of their presence on it, and they will always be remembered with…love and a smile.
