Memories of Christmases Past...

Christmas Memories 12/25/2013

For 2013, I decided to do a card in tribute to my beloved Mother, Elizabeth, who passed away on Jan 26, 2012, aged 85. This first Christmas ever without her has been a roller-coaster of memories and emotions. Perusing the old family albums to select images for the card was a rite of memory and self-review that I think was invaluable. Maybe we live more in the past as we become older? Nah, that wouldn't work,  life is an ever-forward-pulling path of adventure and challenge. But, in truth, there is value in looking back, and this becomes more apparent as we age.

Only after I assembled the card, did it dawn on me that 2 other family members depicted are also gone, my cousins Lenny and Bill, both of whom died too early.

Some notes I made at the beginning of December:

Listening to Bing Crosby's Christmas recordings (on CD), I feel how much Christmastide is like a warm cocoon, a cornucopia of tradition and memories that wraps one about like wings of a guardian  angel. All the memories come forth, all the old Loved Ones appear again, the old customs take front place, and peace, quiet joy--even the memory of loss--blend in to create a rich tapestry of one's past life---which is also, truly, one's present life.

I put up the tree, and through my hands pass ornaments that were touched by my grandparents and mother, and my little self. Some of these ornaments are well over a 100 years old now. Each one holds a spark, that ignites in my heart and mind, the warmth of those loving hands from the past touching me again.

I wish you and yours, a most Merry Christmas!