Christmas is one of my family's craziest times; it also renders many moments for me to sit and think. I think about life, people, why winter is so cold, and why there is no chocolate in my house...
This Christmas has sent my mind thinking far more than years before. I have begun to realize that my days outside of the real world are coming to a close and I see everyone around me growing older (and wiser). It's a little hard to let go of what once was and look to what will be. I have come to appreciate the untold stories of my grandparents and beg them to share their lives with me. I sit and watch with great intensity, the way my aunts, uncles, and cousins love one another...and I long to talk at the top of our lungs all at the same time and joke around the way we do every time we are together. I think about what life would be like without the people I love so much and I can not even imagine. Then I stop thinking about that because I don't want to imagine it. I love Christmas! This year was different. We all bought each other cheapo gifts (tho we all tried to play them off like they cost a fortune) and most of us got the same thing from multiple people. Wait, I do remember my uncle getting a rather nice silver flask and oh yeah, Mammaw provided some green for each of her loving grandchildren. But that is besides the point. Someone gave my grandmother used cd's and someone else gave my cousin a toy for her cat. It was rather entertaining; but no one seemed to mind the lack of material things. We all laughed harder than the year before and ate more food than usual. We truly enjoyed the company and are each thankful for the times we've had together.
I hate to think that one day we will all be separated with our own families and grandkids. It will never be like the good ole' days when we would all race to the back bedroom and dive behind territory lines so that the infamous checker war could begin. Who needs Christmas dinner when you can pelt each other with deadly plastic chips? Then there was that 2' tall plastic tree that adorned Mammaw's den. Someone always managed to knock that poor thing over. Every year we would break ornaments, nearly set something on fire, and scream for more tea over the roar of the passing train...which shook the entire house and usually knocked a picture or two off the wall. Oh the memories. They will last forever.
This Christmas has sent my mind thinking far more than years before. I have begun to realize that my days outside of the real world are coming to a close and I see everyone around me growing older (and wiser). It's a little hard to let go of what once was and look to what will be. I have come to appreciate the untold stories of my grandparents and beg them to share their lives with me. I sit and watch with great intensity, the way my aunts, uncles, and cousins love one another...and I long to talk at the top of our lungs all at the same time and joke around the way we do every time we are together. I think about what life would be like without the people I love so much and I can not even imagine. Then I stop thinking about that because I don't want to imagine it. I love Christmas! This year was different. We all bought each other cheapo gifts (tho we all tried to play them off like they cost a fortune) and most of us got the same thing from multiple people. Wait, I do remember my uncle getting a rather nice silver flask and oh yeah, Mammaw provided some green for each of her loving grandchildren. But that is besides the point. Someone gave my grandmother used cd's and someone else gave my cousin a toy for her cat. It was rather entertaining; but no one seemed to mind the lack of material things. We all laughed harder than the year before and ate more food than usual. We truly enjoyed the company and are each thankful for the times we've had together.
I hate to think that one day we will all be separated with our own families and grandkids. It will never be like the good ole' days when we would all race to the back bedroom and dive behind territory lines so that the infamous checker war could begin. Who needs Christmas dinner when you can pelt each other with deadly plastic chips? Then there was that 2' tall plastic tree that adorned Mammaw's den. Someone always managed to knock that poor thing over. Every year we would break ornaments, nearly set something on fire, and scream for more tea over the roar of the passing train...which shook the entire house and usually knocked a picture or two off the wall. Oh the memories. They will last forever.
posted by bargame at 4:56 PM
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