Many of us have memories of Christmas as children. They may be of certain gifts, trips, or time with family. I remember getting bounced down the steps to the basement of my mom's parent's house. Each of the grandkids had a stocking with an ever-expanding board with hooks.
I always wanted to play Santa and deliver presents from the tree. However, I could only use my manual chair to get to the basement. That meant one of my cousins pushed me around to deliver gifts to waiting laps. Eventually, a ramp was built and I could use my power chair as Christmas celebrations stayed upstairs.
On the other side of the family, everybody would squeeze into my grandparent's house in the country. As my cousins grew in size and number, we kept our same location. Adding on a front room helped, but I just had one area I could sit, turn around, and move about five feet. Before moving, I had to check for anyone crawling or toddling so I didn't crush anything.
Some years meant going to both sides of the family in one day. Other years, we may miss one side's celebration, or they would be spread out a few days. Driving between destinations in the snowy countryside, comments would frequently come about how busy late December was. Trying to get everywhere, get our own family celebration, and my care needs done, made for very busy days. However, mom would often be the voice of reason to enjoy the opportunity while we had it.
As years passed, changes started coming in location of the celebration and how many families could come. Instead of separate celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, they were eventually combined into one Thankmas party. Then, as my grandparents departed to heavenly celebrations, more changes came to family gatherings.
I don't remember when our last full family gathering was on mom's side of the family. Since grandma's funeral in August of 2024, I haven't seen the majority of my cousins in person and don't expect to until the next funeral.
This year, my dad's family decided to delay our winter celebration until grandma's birthday in March. Therefore, for the first time in my life, my parents and I don't have any full family gatherings to attend for Christmas. We may visit with grandma, but that would be it for Christmas.
As mom said many years ago, a time would come when we would miss going to various gatherings. Having a calm Christmas is nice, but it does feel odd not to have an annual get together and see how my extended family has changed.
No matter what you have going on this year, remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. Give thanks to God for the gift of His Son and the gift of eternal life. Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the family you still have around.
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