I started putting away Christmas today. A little earlier than normal, but some of the sit-around-and-create-clutter kinds of things needed to be put to sleep for the season. I'm not looking forward to taking down the wreaths and the tree and the red and white throw pillows and fill my house with winter charm, but I guess there is always an end to the season. It is what makes it fun to pull it all out again in November!
As I was doing some repairs on things that were too loved this year, I found myself fixing a small frame my mom sent to me during my first Christmas season of adulthood, as a freshman in college. I was incredibly homesick that year. It was the era before email and cell phones and texting and social media. The only connection to home was a once-weekly long distance phone call, and I was feeling out of sorts as the holiday season began. I'm sure Mom noticed my tears as I pulled out of the driveway after Thanksgiving break to head back to school for the end of the semester. A few days later, a Christmas package arrived. Mom knew I loved frames so she had bought me a bunch of Christmasy ones and filled them with pictures of me as a child at Christmas: Me sitting on my first 'ride on' as a one-year-old, chubby cheeks and a tummy poking out from under my too-tight pjs; A profile shot as I was opening a gift, my tongue coming out as a 'thank you' was frozen in time; A picture of me and my siblings under the tree. These were small treasures from home; a package that made me feel loved and missed and oh-so-excited for Christmas. A package filled with the spirit of family and home and love. Thankfully, I got to head home in just a few weeks!
Since then, there have been many, many Christmases that I haven't been 'home' with the family of my childhood. I got married and moved away and started creating a new home for the holidays. I still miss the magic of being a kid at Christmas, but there isn't anything that compares to WATCHING the magic of Christmas play out for your own children. Kids make Christmas, Christmas. This year we were thrilled to have visiting Grandparents and Auntie. Being surrounded by loved ones and planning little surprises for others is what fills my heart with happiness. We enjoyed all the fun with our company and having them here made everything better. But, the thing that really filled my heart to overflowing, in the same way those framed pictures did so many years ago, was when my mother-in-law hugged me and said, "This has been the best Christmas in years!" I am so grateful that I could share the magic of my kids with their grandma; that she would leave the comforts of her own home and life to be part of the crazy that is Christmas around here.
And, I'm so grateful that 'home' is not a place, so much as a feeling; a 'place' that can be wherever the people you love are.
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2 comments:
This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing Ade.
It was the best Christmas I've had in a long time too! Thanks for letting me join you and watch the magic and joys of Christmas unfold during the holidays.
I felt so grateful for the opportunity to be with children who do make Christmas, Christmas. I felt I had a place to belong during the holidays which was such a relief since I haven't felt that for years. Thanks for writing this memory and sharing in our joys. I should have been more expressive of my gratitude toward my Christmas hosts. You are such an inspiration to me! Lots of love.
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