Category Archives: holidays

family, holidays, memories, optimism

Christmas in my heart

2 Comments
Family -- Christmas 2009
Family -- Christmas 2009

Last Christmas, I wrote about there being “No price to the holidays.” This year, it felt like all I saw leading up to Christmas was dollar signs… the cost of living had me down in the dumps and stressed. It seemed like we were on this strange teeter-totter; once I’d be up, something would come out of no where to bring me back down.

Then… we began our trip towards family and a much-needed reprieve from everyday life. And, frankly, our bad luck followed us. In little ways — slamming my finger in a car door, my husband spilling hot coffee on himself — bad luck began to become funny. My attitude began to change, and I began to see the humor in almost every situation.

I also began reminiscing.

See, I’ve started this Christmas blog entry at least ten times in my mind over the course of the last two weeks. A dozen different angles. Hundreds of little stories and memories. All of which so precious. All of which deserve an entry to themselves.

My nephew made a video for a class project, and he gave us all a copy of it. “What Christmas means to me” is a gift I’m going to cherish forever… he did a great job on it, and as I sit here it makes me think… what would I say if I did such a project.

At around his age (ok, maybe more around my niece’s age), my answer would consist of stories about going to Grandma’s house with the whole family. It would talk about our “Christmas Program” in which the family gathered in the living room to sing songs, recite poems and read Christmas stories. I’d talk about Happy Birthday Baby Jesus cake, family photos, and lighting candles on the tree in order of grandchild’s age.

I’d talk about Children’s mass at church on Christmas Eve, where I’d sing in the children’s choir and Mom and my brother would be in the adult choir — complete with songs in Czech! I’d talk about how I never got to carry any of the main pieces of the nativity in during procession. Always either a donkey or a cow… no offense to the animals, but as a child you want Jesus, Mary or Joseph… or an angel… or at least a shepherd!

Finally, I would talk about Christmas morning and the wide-eyed wonder of Santa having come leave gifts over night. There were Barbies and Baby-Sitter’s Club Books. Board games and new jeans. Living in Texas, it wasn’t unusual to be warm enough to go outside and play in the afternoon. Or perhaps we’d go visit my Grandpa in Bryan.

Christmas would mean to me family, church, good food, and presents.

Today, my entry would look slightly different. So far, my husband and I have alternated Christmases with each other’s families. One year in Oregon, the next year in Texas. While both families have their own traditions, some things remain the same no matter where you are or how old you are… Christmas is still all about family, celebrating Jesus’ birth, good food, and presents — though today I am more into giving than receiving… Not that I don’t like receiving (new camera and an A&M Snuggie for the WIN!)… haha!

Ultimately, we should keep Christmas in our hearts year around. Its simply a magical time of year if only you’ll let it be so. Its a time of peace. Its a time of joy. Its a time of love. Its a time of hope. Its a time of faith…

Christmas means all these things to me.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate)… May the joy of this season carry us into the new year.

faith, holidays, husband, optimism

An unexpected angel

DSCN0615-1Yesterday, I wrote about having the Holiday Doldrums. Today, I write about an unexpected burst of Holiday Spirit.

It was a frustrating beginning to the day, when a bid to get some much needed funds to cover a few bills hit a brick wall. We attempted to sell a couple of my husband’s old keyboards to a used music store, only to be turned down cold. We left feeling frustrated, angry, and admittedly a little depressed. On to Plan C. Whatever that may be.

We went from there to a place in which we needed the Christmas spirit.

See, my husband is a Mason, and his lodge puts together gift baskets for the widows of Masons who have passed away. We had a basket in our backseat, and two keyboards in the truck bed. The cab of the truck filled with a feeling of… well, anything but Christmas.

We arrived at the widow’s condo, and we went to the door. Both fighting to find the Christmas spirit to bring to this woman who would either welcome us or send us on our way immediately. We had no idea what to expect!

I know one thing for sure: we certainly didn’t expect to leave her home with smiles from ear to ear, and the feeling of Christmas in our hearts. I felt like a Christmas Angel had just swooped into my life in that half hour we spent visiting with this most delightful of women.

She told us of how she’d lost her husband in 2005, and how the first two years after his passing she felt her own life over. How she cried every day, missing him deeply. Then, one day, how she decided she needed to live, and has since joined a cards club, and a gardening club. How she has so many friends, and how she goes all the time.

Then she explained how she’d had a car accident earlier this year, and how four of her five doctors told her she’d never survive her injuries. But then how her primary doctor told her she could survive… and the next day she was out of bed walking around the hospital. She told us of how she doesn’t use the wheelchair nor the walker in her living room, and how she is determined to eventually be off oxygen completely.

She was filled with such life. She was filled with such determination. She was filled with such a positive glow.

How could we not leave her home feeling like WE were the ones to have received a gift. An intangible gift that you can only see in our new moods and demeanor. Things suddenly didn’t seem quite so bad. And those keyboards? Well, they’re back in our garage, to be dealt with at another time. Instead of lamenting our “loss” of not selling them, we’re saying thank you for our many, many blessings.

We found our Christmas spirit in a very unexpected angel. And I am so very thankful.