Christmas always brings back so many memories.
I remember the days when Bill and I were without kids and used to go CRAZY at Christmas buying each other anything we wanted. We had all of this money (really not much, but felt like a lot when you're 22) and no one else to buy for but ourselves and a few relatives. We couldn't wait to open the presents on Christmas Day so we usually ended up giving one gift a day starting the first two weeks before Christmas.
As I was putting out the presents under the tree this year, I was telling the boys a story about when I was around 5 and wanted to open one particular present so badly I cried and cried and cried until my Mom let me open it. Looking back now I can distinctly remember how sweet and sad my Mom was for me that I was so unhappy about not getting to open it that she just couldn't stand it and had to let me open it. She reasoned with me that if I opened it early I wouldn't have a big present to open on Christmas Day but I didn't care. And this was just like Lucas. He was so eager to open all of his presents he didn't care about waiting. By the way, I still remember that present. It was a tea set. And worth opening early.
Each year we put our ornaments on the tree and tell our kids where each one came from. And as we add more, they recall year after year where we got those ornaments and what they mean to them. There is just something so magical about this day. There are sad memories too that I try not to dwell on. Because even in all of the sadness there were sweet moments that helped us get through what can sometimes be a difficult time of year for a lot of people. 3 years later, it's a hard holiday to manage when I miss my Mom so much. Yesterday I was thinking I needed to call her to wish her a Merry Christmas. Instead I just dreamed about her all night.
Merry Christmas to my Mom, who always made Christmas the merriest time of year no matter what was going on. And I'll follow in her footsteps.
