And So This Is Christmas

                 And So This Is Christmas




December 23, 2014

Dear Mom and Dad,

And so another Christmas has come.  It’s kind of debatable right now whether it’s going to be a white one this year.  There’s a chance of a little snow, sure, but today feels more like a spring day right before a storm – warmish and with gusty winds.  An odd prelude to Christmas.  The weatherman says that’ll change before long when a fast-moving front comes through.  I kind of hope it brings a little snow with it. 

Christmas is somehow always a bit better if there’s snow outside the windows.

You’ll be glad to hear we’ve decorated again this year at our house.  The tree is up and lit, the Christmas nick-knacks are placed in their customary homes for the holiday and all the stockings are hung with care.  Tony’s at least is.  It gets a little harder bringing all the Christmas finery down from the attic each year you know.  And then to put them all away afterward.  Old bones and old muscles like to protest the exertions, but we managed again this year with a lot of help from our son Tony.  If you’re curious, he’s 33 now.  I know, I know, it’s hard to believe, even for us.  Mom, you left us long before Tony came along so you missed out on all his “wonder” years.  I think you’d have got a kick out of watching him grow, seeing him go from an infant to a boy and finally into the man he is today.  There were rough patches, of course – all of us have them on our journey through life, but he’s doing all right. 

He’s doing just fine.

Dad, you were lucky enough to see him in some of his early years.  You left us when he was just a pre-teen, but I’m sure you could see he was growing up to be a fine young man.  Please know that he remembers you fondly.

You guys have missed a whole lot in the world since you crossed over.  Some awfully bad things happened since you left, most of them better left unspoken, but there were very good things that happened also.  The Wall came down in Germany.  That was a surprise and a wonderful thing.  Along with that the Soviet Empire dissolving too.  Very unexpected.  We got a black president some years back and he’s done quite well in the office which surprised some and didn’t others.  But along with that we’ve had lots of gridlock in Washington also.  Maybe that’s not such a startling thing though.  I’m sure in your lives you saw plenty of things from that bailiwick that were not in the interest of the nation.

So much more history has happened in those years, too, but I’ll try to not bore you in this letter with all that.  Suffice it to say a lot of things happened, some would have made you cry and others you have stood up and cheered.  It was what it was.

Technology has come a zillion miles in the last few decades also.  We have stuff that we take for granted now that would have been considered impossible in your day, pure science fiction.  Phones in our pockets that we can use to talk around the world.  Computers that help us do almost everything.  Hell, a lot of our phones are computers that do most everything!  The tech today is soooo cool!

The world has changed so very, very much from your days.  The world is as different since you’ve been gone as it was different from the civil war times to your days. 

Perhaps even more so.

Your son and daughter-in-law are doing all right too, I hope to tell you.  I retired last month, as unlikely as that sounds, and Judy will follow me early next year.  A milestone for us for sure!  We’ve grown older as the time has past, older than you might even guess.  I’m almost of the age that you were, Dad, when you had your last illness and I’m way older than you ever were, Mom.  It’s so very odd being older than your folks, so very unnerving.  Yes, to boil it all down, we’re not “spring chickens” any more.  We don’t have our doctors on speed dial right now (don’t ask, it’s a new telephone thing), but their numbers aren’t too far away.  The wife and I have typical ailments for our age group I suppose, but we’re handling them as best we can.  As I’m sure you did in your day.

Your other son Chuck is doing all right too.  He’s still out on the West Coast and living the life of a Californian.  It’s home for him now and has been for many years.  We visit occasionally and talk fairly frequently on the phone or text each other.  (Again, don’t ask.  Texting is…  naw, ya don’t need to know.)  He’s my lil’ brother and will always be family.  He’s a good man, Mom and Dad.  He, also, has his demons to battle, but he continues to fight the good fight and wins more than he loses.  You’d be as proud of him as I am.

Judy and Tony and I are still in the same house we moved into in the late ‘70’s and have diligently labored keeping it looking decent.  We’re comfortable here and hope to remain here as long as is possible.  It is our home, with all the connotations that word contains, and I wish you could stop by and say hello some day.  Maybe for just a cup of coffee and some good conversation.

We’d really like that.

We’ve got a new dog, too, don’t you know.  She’s a mutt of uncertain heritage, but seems to be a good girl.  She’s a rescue, a bright 4-year-old whose past will forever be a mystery to us, but her future will be one of love, comfort and companionship.  Some bad habits will need to be rectified, sure, but that will come.  I think you guys would like her!  We call her Trixi.

And so it is Christmas.  Time again to let our thoughts fly to memories of family, friends and celebrations of days gone by.  Rooms full of husbands and wives, aunts and uncles, grandparents, children, evergreens decorated with treasured ornaments, gaily-wrapped gifts calling our names. Dining room tables groaning with wonderful meals made by the skillful hands of loved ones.  Smiling faces of relatives and friends basking in the glow of another holiday on this good Earth, another Christmas.

I remember how much you guys loved the holidays.  How, even though on many years the money was very, very tight, Christmas was always a priority, always a high point, and always the pinnacle of the year.  Money was somehow always found.  I remember how Dad would drive over to Gram’s house Christmas morning and bring her over so she could share the day with us and how she would bring her famous, freshly baked breakfast rolls.  We all sure liked that!

I think about you guys often, you know, but never more than around the holidays.  Our present family Christmas traditions are distinctly ours, of course, and that is as it should be, but their roots are always, always yours. 

Thank you for that.

In only a few more hours it will again be time to wake to the magic of Christmas morning, to bid each other tidings of good cheer, to immerse in the ties of family.  To relish a good cup of coffee and to enjoy the opening of the gifts which were so enticingly spread under the Christmas tree.  To enjoy the smiles and happy faces of our loved ones.

I wish you could be here.  I wish it so much…

And so this is Christmas…