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Tag: Christmas

Christmas

Home for the Holidays

The biscotti baked, the bows on the boxes, and the Christmas brunch menu planned, I was happy as I awaited the one time a year when my sons return home from opposite coasts. My joy evaporated when one of my homeward bound boys got stuck in an airport over a thousand miles away. There were a dozen other passengers ahead of him, each desperately hoping to get a seat on the next flight out. I commanded my sinking heart to rise up and listen to my rational mind.  He’s an adult. He’s capable. He’ll figure it out. He’s lived away
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The Stocking

I have pulled it out of the red and green-topped box each year since my divorce.   The sole stocking left among my divorce residue  – a reminder of my divided family.  It is the stocking purchased when the dream of my future family was thriving.  I bought four stockings together, perhaps foolishly, during the pregnancy of my first daughter.  I was hopeful from the beginning she would have a sibling.  The first Christmas after she was born, I had the stockings monogrammed “Mom,” “Dad,” and “Anna.”  I left the last blank until the time came that eventually our Sophia would
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Peaceful Place

“Do you have plans for the holidays?” she asked, breaking the ice at the business lunch. “We’re traveling to Boston.” “We like to keep it relaxed.” “We’ll enjoy a lot of traditions.” “I’m hosting my family.” Spanning over 20 years in age, each was a divorced mom with children. Two married anew, one who remained single, and me, remarried and now widowed.  As the wait staff took orders for the soup of the day and salad with salmon, each shared a little more. “Neither of us ever go back home for Christmas.” “We alternate Christmas Eve with Christmas Day.” “My
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O Christmas Tree

We set off on what I declared to be a great family adventure.  We were going to romantically tromp through a tree farm and cut down our own magical Christmas tree.  And we did… sort of.  In reality, the trees were pre-cut and Anna sighed at the lack of snow on the ground.  We tried our best to ignore the frosty wind making our faces and fingers hurt while we searched for the perfect tree.  But boy did we find it. When we got home and the tree barely fit through our front door, I realized all too soon that
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Christmastime Courage

The holiday “To Do” list is long, but one by one the items get crossed off:                         Finish wrapping gifts                         Write checks for tips                         See divorce attorney Every December I am amazed by the courage of those who consult with a divorce attorney in the same month they decorate Christmas cookies.  Holidays can be the most heart-connected time of year with loved ones. Aromas from the kitchen remind us of our own childhood and the “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament causes us to pause and reflect. Holidays also hold expectations. That we will be with our family. That there
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Merry Memories

My father died on Christmas day. This Christmas, like the one thirty years ago, I will host my family in my cozy home with candles burning and my tree gloriously trimmed. Unlike that year, my nursing newborn is now the 30 year old flying home from New York before he heads off to India. My home is now an apartment instead of a house. There will be no husband to cohost the holiday party, and the widow in the house will not be my mother but will be me. It’s impossible for me to not connect holidays with losses, even
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