My mom loved Christmas. I mean…she LOVED it!!!! Christmas carols, buying presents, giving presents, traditional Christmas dinners – even a goose once in awhile because my dad loved it! She made him a plum pudding every year. No one else liked it at all. Only him, but she made it anyway. This weekend, while we were having dinner together, my sister Kathi found the one from last year in the freezer. Dad would not let her throw it away. Maybe he thinks it will defrost and still taste okay this year. None of us know how to make it so there won’t be one for him this year so perhaps a frozen leftover will have to suffice.
Even as mom got sicker with COPD, and could not do much, she still managed to find gifts for everyone on her Christmas list. She did a lot of catalog shopping. We all tried to teach her how to use the internet and order things on line but she was happier talking to someone on the phone. She probably became friends with all of the sales reps she spoke to. That was just her way. She always made sure that there was an even number of gifts under the tree for everyone. Even as adults! We always told her to focus on the kids and not worry about us, but of course she didn’t do that. There was always thought put into each gift, no matter how big or small, it always meant something.
It won’t be the same this year, and all of us are finding ourselves thinking about her a lot right now. More than usual. After we went through her jewelery drawers, we decided who would keep certain things. I found a necklace and earrings that I really liked and my sister took a few things. My mom and I had always laughed about how different our taste in fashion was, but there were definitely a few things I wanted to keep. The other stuff – and there was quite a bit, was costume type jewelry, but there were a bunch of watches and a few gold earrings and bracelets that none of us thought we’d ever wear. A friend of mine is a jeweler and I talked to her and we decided that we would try to sell the gold. There was not a lot, and we had to go through and figure out what was real and what was not. I went there yesterday and we went through it with her. Most of the watches weren’t of much value and there were only a few gold bracelets but there was one watch that was of some value so we decided to go ahead and sell those few things. The rest of it we will donate.
Today, I got a call from my friend – the watch had been worth much more than we had expected it to be! I brought the money to my dad and he was shocked! I told him, it must be mom’s way of still letting us know that she is still a part of Christmas this year! I told him he should use it for his holiday shopping and that way it would be from mom too. She would love that!! A big Merry Christmas from her to all of us. She must have been grinning from ear to ear as she watched my dad’s face when I gave him the envelope! I knew she’d find a way to show up this year. It wouldn’t be Christmas if she didn’t have a part in it!
Tagged: christmas dinner, Christmas goose, love christmas, mom and christmas, mom our sunshine, most wonderful time of the year, plum pudding, selling gold
A Project for Kindness 
oh claire…i don’t know whether to laugh or cry, so u know me, i’ll just cry…i miss her soooo much and this will be a tough xmas for all of us….but, as usual, we will get thru it and do it TOGETHER>>>>just like thanksgiving….maybe i’ll find some “red slippers” to wear and click my heals 3 x’s , so mom knows we’re all here for her. love u sweetie xoxoxo
We can cry together, but we will also laugh. Like we always do. Making Christmas Eve dinner won’t be the same. Good thing she taught me how to deal with those lobsters!