Christmas eve...the night my family (and often others) gathered at Ma's to exchange gifts for those whose names we drew (and often extra gifts for others we wished to get gifts for and for the unexpected ones who showed up)... light snacks...and a very small house filled to bursting with an incredible number of people...and laughter..and joking and trash talking... hugs..well wishes... and so much more... the warm up to our traditions of Christmas breakfast... visiting various members of the family to experience the various family gift exchanges.. rushing around to make sure we have all of the ingredients for our dinner... lots of time spent in kitchens.... and then Christmas Dinner... Even more people in a small house (family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, significant others, strangers, etc) ... lots of food (my freshman year in college a slightly snooty, well-to-do classmate was bragging about how great his family's xmas dinner, which was mostly catered and tried to make a couple of feel like we were wanting, was... I started running through the usual selections of our family dinners... by the time I finished, his jaw was dropped and was like.. what the hell?????.. I also must say that every time I went home for holiday dinners, he would put in special requests.. I made a lot of money off of him..lol) anyway... even more laughter and trash talking.. lots of stories told... lots of memories made and recounted....
It is impossible to explain properly if you never experienced it.. and you were blessed if you did... Christmas was Ma's favorite time of the year.. I can't even come close to counting the number of people whose lives were touched by her (with our help) during these times (and all of the other times of the year that our family would grow much larger for a day or two... no, that's not right, unless they decided to step away, all of them remain part of our family)....
I miss Ma and those times.. I still have a special place in my heart for these two days each year, but there is also a pain that hasn't gone away, and I doubt ever will..
Merry Christmas to all of my family.. those by blood, by marriage.. by adoption... by choice..and by chance. those still here to celebrate and those who have continued on...those here and those all around the country and the world.. I love you all and wish you nothing but the best now and always..
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