Your Holiday Spirit~ What Christmas is to You! (Lancaster, Wilkes-Barre: condo, home)
Northeastern PennsylvaniaScranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Christmas....seeing family that I see all the time as well as seeing the 'other' side...a rare event these days....that comes with a mix of emotions....
My girls still getting to act like kids again for one day...opeining presents that Santa brings in the middle of the night.....my 17 yr old wears Christmas pajamas that she has been wearing since she was 9...yes they fit a little different now...she wears them, her sister wore them, and before that, her 27 yr old cousin wore them...kinda fun to see them worn each year!
There is a wondeful tradition in Lake Ariel...they collect gallon milk jugs and make luminaries out of them...they are EVERYWHERE on Christmas Eve...almost the entire ride to church...all around Lake Ariel...it looks so pretty...not really sure who does it, but its a big effort and it really is nice going to Christmas Eve mass in the dark with the roads lined with luminareis all the way to Church....
Christmas Day...we will miss my Dad....trying to not let it get the best of me...so very glad for him that he is at peace and from little things that I have learned...he was ready to go...his time here was done. He even left his teeth in that night when he went to bed...something he NEVER did.
Christmas is definitely about FOOD too. And cleaning up. And me getting all steamed up about who is NOT helping clean up...but that's another story! Just stay out of my kitchen and out of my way if you're just gonna stand there and chit chat!!!
And yes...it's a big stressful expense for me.
I'm so very grateful this year to still have my Mom....that my girls are doing well in school and are hard workers, although both are currently unemployed! I Thank GOD for my very hard working husband who is my best friend.
I had to think quite a bit about Christmas, and what it means to me. Things are not the same this year, and I feel it.
To me, Christmas is about FAMILY. Every year since I've been married we made the trip to my mom and dad's to spend the holiday there. My parents got to watch my kids open presents Christmas morning, and my brother and his family (who are from NC) were always there as well. Christmas morning was so much fun - and in retrospect I'm glad that we chose to be there instead of our own home - what memories were made through the years! Love and laughter abounded throughout the day, as my sisters and their families joined us for dinner. For one time every year, my entire family was in one room. What a gift that was!
And of course, the holidays are all about the food - and in my case, cookies! I start baking almost a week before Christmas, and I make at least a dozen different types of treats. I give some away to neighbors and gifts, and have plenty to take to my parents home as well as my husband's family too. No dieting for me this time of year - I become very indulgent, and pay the price in January!!
This year is different...
I'm not sure my mom's going to make it to see Christmas this year. She's not able to eat anymore, and what little she drinks must be drained out of a gastric tube so she doesn't vomit. She pretty much stays in bed and sleeps, and gets up only to go to the bathroom. The hospice nurse says we have days left.
I'm so very sad, and guilty. I'm trying so hard to keep up my holiday spirit, but it's fading fast. I wrapped presents yesterday, not because I wanted to (I normally fight with my husband to do it!), but because I had to. As for the baking, well, I know my kids love the goodies, but my mom won't have any - even the mission balls I promised her I would make, so there's less joy in the baking for me. As for Christmas, what kind of day will it be? I will love, once again, watching my family as they see their presents and delight in the surprises. But my heart aches with the knowledge that my mom won't be there in heart and, possibly, in body. I'm guilty that I feel I'm bringing the spirit of others down when I talk of the situation.
I don't want to feel this way - I want to revel in the glory that is Christmas Day! I don't want pity, yet that's what I believe people feel towards me knowing what's close at hand.
Sorry to be a downer - I guess when it comes to Christmas this year, I'll do what I can to get through and make it good for my children. I know that next year will be easier on my emotions, which are pretty raw right now. I know that I'll be okay. I'm tough! I'm so very grateful for so much in my life, and that is where I always find my strength when I get down.
I'll pray for all of you here at CD that, together, we will overcome our troubles and sadness that grab at us all through the year and, at the end, be stronger, better people.
Thanks all...
Last edited by cathyde; 12-17-2008 at 07:12 AM..
Reason: grammar
Thank You Cathyde for including us in your life and thoughts.
I too have been there, in that kind of time and space........
So it brought tears to me knowing you are at that place in time right now.
I remember when they told us my Dad had days left.......
I'm so glad I was with him though. So glad to have helped him during those days. I don't want to relay to you pity......for life is what it is.
The Circle...
I hope your Mom can "see" what your doing, can "feel" it, can "smell" the Christmas in the air. ( and those cookies too)
You will come out of this stronger and I for one enjoy all of the littlest things so much more.......
Bless You and Your Family.......Hugs
OK Mr Webb........a picture of that would be nice. Right now, you'd be sitting in a sleet like snow....Maybe bring a warm cushion with you.
Our table outside is all ice.......Thinking where you would set the cup..
Well, were there is a will, there is a way.
I don't need a table or a chair...I'd just stand on one corner of the deck, sip my hot cocoa, and just enjoy the scenery!!
Cathy ... no pitty for you here ... but I do understand your pain ... I lost both of my parents ... and they loved Christmas so much ... that for a long time it was very hard for me ... I went through the motions ... bought the presents ... but felt an overwhelming feeling of saddness for years ... but I would say that the last few ... (my parents are gone for quite a while now) ... have been good.
... I began again putting up the christmas tree ... which I would say that the first 5 years I could not bring myself to do ... and on this tree ... I put nothing but my mothers favorite ornaments ... and some of them are crazy looking ... there is a string thing that we made for her and attached holly berries to it ... (homemade christmas present from her children) that I must put on the tree each year ... there is a cherished christmas card that mother got when she was a child from her best friend ... this card had it place on my mothers tree each year ... and although I never met this friend of my mothers I place this card on my tree each year ... and I think about each and every ornament and what it meant to her ... some she made herself (those are my favorites) as we did this as a family when we were kids ... one year I had a globe pencil sharpener ... I took the world off of it because I thought that it would make a nice ornament ... I think I was five ... and she allowed me to place it on the tree ... it still goes up every year ... and now I think about how silly it looks ... but it goes up anyway because my mother put it up every year ... I cherish my childhood memories ... and the best part was when we decorated the tree ... I still have the tinsel that she used on her tree ... she carefully picked off each strand every year ... and reused it ... that I don't use ... because I am afraid that my little fur kids will eat it and get sick ...
For me Christmas is putting up the tree ... and the memories of Christmas past ... sitting and telling stories of the silly gifts my father liked ... I think he was 60 when he wanted a rubik cube ... while I put up my tree it brings back thoughts of how my father would sing christmas songs all while we decorated the tree ... some traditional songs and then the silly ones that he would make up ... so I would have to say that to me ... it's not about the gifts ... it's about decorating the tree with family ... and remembering ... it was all good! And finally it's all becoming good again after 16 years!
So now I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas ... a joyous and prosperous new year ... may your heartaches be few and your joys be many.
Lu
Sometimes it's fun to walk in the snow with no shoes on ... can't do it for long ... hey ... I know what your thinking ... but don't knock it until you try it!
It is so interesting to see everyone's view of the Christmas season and how bittersweet it is for so many of you. As I said in a previous post, I am the original Christmas junkie. I am sure it was because of the deeply entrenched memories that my parents gave me when I was a child at Christmastime. Santa always came to our house ( I believed for many, many years)and there were cookies, family gatherings, Christmas caroling ,the Sunday School pageant at Church, and, as I recall, snow!
My parents have passed away ( both tragically in their 60's) and my husband's parents are gone, too. ( His Dad was only 54). We have no siblings or cousins or any family to speak of. We have no family gatherings. But, Christmas is still magic to me. Christmas is in my heart. My tradition these days is to make someone else's holiday magical, too.
I am not entirely comfortable in telling what I do, but for the sake of this thread I will share a few nice things.
A few years ago, I stopped at a rest stop on the NY Thruway ( picking my son up from college in VT). It was a cold and bitter night, three days from Christmas. I couldn't but help to notice that the matron in the ladies room was kind of bent over and haggard: I imagined what it must be like to go to work everyday in a restroom. I saw that I had a twenty dollar bill in my wallet. I went to the woman, slipped it into her hand and said, " A very Merry Christmas to you". The best part was that I never said a word to anyone about it ( not even my husband).
Another year I found a local family that was not able to afford a Christmas tree. I bought a (real) tree, decorated it, borrowed a pick-up truck and delivered it. You should have seen the faces of the children! It was worth every penny!!
Last year I made up lovely gift bags for the ladies in my Church who are in their 90's. The gifts were body lotions and powders, some ornaments, costume jewelry. I left them at my Church, and the gift tags said "from Santa". I felt good for days afterward.
We may not have family( and sometimes it is hard) but we have the true spirit of Christmas, and it is priceless.
Christmas always had a dual nature for us growing up. My dad was big into Christmas, lights, the tree, music, trains, snow, the whole thing. But my grandfather on my Mom's side died Christmas day so it was hard on my grandmother.
So I'm usually pretty melancholy but also love the traditions and enjoy the season in its entirety although I get less and less invloved with the commercial aspects.
You look for the good even amid the bad things happening and try to help those around you. The wars made family and sacrifice more important, terrorism made patriotism and unity more important, economic collapse made money less important, and questions about faith and the future of our country make belief in a higher power more important. At least to me. I think its easier to stare down the doubts and fears of the future when you can look back at the past and see what made you strong and right and good.
So I say a Merry Christmas to you all, and God willing, a Happy New Year. God Bless.
It is so interesting to see everyone's view of the Christmas season and how bittersweet it is for so many of you. As I said in a previous post, I am the original Christmas junkie. I am sure it was because of the deeply entrenched memories that my parents gave me when I was a child at Christmastime. Santa always came to our house ( I believed for many, many years)and there were cookies, family gatherings, Christmas caroling ,the Sunday School pageant at Church, and, as I recall, snow!
My parents have passed away ( both tragically in their 60's) and my husband's parents are gone, too. ( His Dad was only 54). We have no siblings or cousins or any family to speak of. We have no family gatherings. But, Christmas is still magic to me. Christmas is in my heart. My tradition these days is to make someone else's holiday magical, too.
I am not entirely comfortable in telling what I do, but for the sake of this thread I will share a few nice things.
A few years ago, I stopped at a rest stop on the NY Thruway ( picking my son up from college in VT). It was a cold and bitter night, three days from Christmas. I couldn't but help to notice that the matron in the ladies room was kind of bent over and haggard: I imagined what it must be like to go to work everyday in a restroom. I saw that I had a twenty dollar bill in my wallet. I went to the woman, slipped it into her hand and said, " A very Merry Christmas to you". The best part was that I never said a word to anyone about it ( not even my husband).
Another year I found a local family that was not able to afford a Christmas tree. I bought a (real) tree, decorated it, borrowed a pick-up truck and delivered it. You should have seen the faces of the children! It was worth every penny!!
Last year I made up lovely gift bags for the ladies in my Church who are in their 90's. The gifts were body lotions and powders, some ornaments, costume jewelry. I left them at my Church, and the gift tags said "from Santa". I felt good for days afterward.
We may not have family( and sometimes it is hard) but we have the true spirit of Christmas, and it is priceless.
A very Merry Christmas to everyone!!
You must be part angel! When I was younger, my Mom used to do a lot of things like that with us. We used to make meals for the homeless man that lived behind the stores near us and bring them to him. We also used to make a big basket of Thanksgiving goods for people we know could not afford them and then leave it out their door before the holiday. They never knew it was us. That was most of the fun. Then my Mom became disabled and I've been in and out of work with the bad economy. I still do a few things, but most of the time I'm barely able to have food on my own table. But I think to myself, this too shall pass, and I am working toward getting back on my feet again so that I can continue doing the good my Mom used to.
Merry Christmas!
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