Christmas Memories

It’s the holiday season. Houses are lit up with holiday decor. Snow is on the ground. Christmas songs are playing in the stores. All the presents are bought and waiting to be opened. Families are waiting for relatives to arrive for dinner. It is a joyous time of year. People connect with each other in a way they don’t the rest of the year.

For my family, this time of year is bittersweet. There are three less people to celebrate with. My dad, brother and sister are no longer with us. They are greatly missed especially at Christmastime. My Dad would help mom with Christmas dinner. He peeled the potatoes with his own pocket knife with great precision. When he opened his gifts, he would inspect them from top to bottom. My brother David loved this time of year. It was his favorite holiday. It didn’t hurt that his birthday was the week before. He knew he would rake it in big. He was like a kid when it was time to open gifts. The kids got great gifts from him. One year, my nephew Lee got boxing gloves. My sister Angie also had a birthday the week before. She too loved this time of year. I remember how she loved to eat. I never knew someone so tiny eat so much. She used to say “I’m starvin’ like Marvin.”

This year, like every year since, the family gets together at Mom’s house for Christmas dinner. As I look around, I realize that life has gone on. Marriages took place. Babies were born. I don’t feel as sad when I look at my own children and my nieces and nephews. Children have a funny way of helping along the healing process. I look at my mother holding two year old Debra. There is such joy on her face as she hugs her. I see all these kids, including my own and realize that Dad, David and Angie are not really gone. They have come back in these children. My son Andrew has David’s loud voice. My daughter Melissa has some of Angie’s features. She also has a little bit of her temper. Two year old Debra mirrors Angie when she was two. I am reminded of Dad when I see my nephew Robert inspecting his gifts the way Dad did.

The food is eaten, the presents are opened. The house is filled with chatter and laughter. Time goes by so fast. It is now time to go home. There are hugs and kisses being given. As I get ready to leave, I see their pictures on the living room wall and smile. Comfort takes the place of pain. Joy takes the place of sorrow.

Merry Christmas Dad, David and Angie.





Karen M. Houghton