Living a Beautiful Life, Volume 3
The holiday is over. It makes me sad.
The tree is dead, the greenery is browning and turning crunchy and the nativity scene sits on a pile of dust because I'm too lazy to move all the figures around.
I mentioned de-Christmasing today and MC gasped "NO!" Then she added, "Well, you can take some of it down but leave up the mantle and the tree and the garland in the kitchen. And the manger scene and the glass balls. Oh, and the little trees and the Christmas pillows. And that star (pointing to a huge paper star hanging in window)."
So basically all of it.
Later, as we watched the Hallmark channel holiday movie marathon (and our 1,392nd Hallmark movie of the season), a character mentioned how magical her mother always made Christmas feel.
Meems looked over at me and drew a heart in the air around my head and said, "like you."
I felt all the feels. It was the best Christmas present anyone has ever given to me.
My family has a tendency to make a big production out of every event. Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, graduations, concerts, plays, games.... It used to drive my husband crazy. But what's better than making someone feel special? What's better than creating magic for your family? What's better than finding every reason to celebrate? What's wrong with traditions?
My mom made holidays and birthdays magical. My husband even loves them -- he says they feel like more than just a holiday, they're an event.
I was sick last week and as I lay dying on my bed I panicked that, should I really have to go to the hospital or, God forbid I should die, no one would know where I stashed all the presents and none of them were wrapped! It was 2 days before Christmas and my kids had been looking forward to the day when all the presents appeared under the tree (per tradition) and how was that going to happen if I was incapacitated? Or dead? So I pulled myself out of bed, downed some antacid and several ibuprofen, and set to work. By the time they got home, the presents were wrapped and under the tree, and each child had a gift of Christmas pjs waiting for them up in their rooms. And even though I was still uncertain I wasn't dying, I felt pretty fantastic.
Because the looks on their faces when they saw it all -- Christmas magic right there.
And it was the most beautiful thing. And for a few minutes I forgot I was dying.
I created magic and warmth for the people I love. And they, apparently feel it too. Well, at least one of them does. To me, that's living a beautiful life.
The tree is dead, the greenery is browning and turning crunchy and the nativity scene sits on a pile of dust because I'm too lazy to move all the figures around.
I mentioned de-Christmasing today and MC gasped "NO!" Then she added, "Well, you can take some of it down but leave up the mantle and the tree and the garland in the kitchen. And the manger scene and the glass balls. Oh, and the little trees and the Christmas pillows. And that star (pointing to a huge paper star hanging in window)."
So basically all of it.
Later, as we watched the Hallmark channel holiday movie marathon (and our 1,392nd Hallmark movie of the season), a character mentioned how magical her mother always made Christmas feel.
Meems looked over at me and drew a heart in the air around my head and said, "like you."
I felt all the feels. It was the best Christmas present anyone has ever given to me.
My family has a tendency to make a big production out of every event. Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, graduations, concerts, plays, games.... It used to drive my husband crazy. But what's better than making someone feel special? What's better than creating magic for your family? What's better than finding every reason to celebrate? What's wrong with traditions?
My mom made holidays and birthdays magical. My husband even loves them -- he says they feel like more than just a holiday, they're an event.
I was sick last week and as I lay dying on my bed I panicked that, should I really have to go to the hospital or, God forbid I should die, no one would know where I stashed all the presents and none of them were wrapped! It was 2 days before Christmas and my kids had been looking forward to the day when all the presents appeared under the tree (per tradition) and how was that going to happen if I was incapacitated? Or dead? So I pulled myself out of bed, downed some antacid and several ibuprofen, and set to work. By the time they got home, the presents were wrapped and under the tree, and each child had a gift of Christmas pjs waiting for them up in their rooms. And even though I was still uncertain I wasn't dying, I felt pretty fantastic.
Because the looks on their faces when they saw it all -- Christmas magic right there.
And it was the most beautiful thing. And for a few minutes I forgot I was dying.
I created magic and warmth for the people I love. And they, apparently feel it too. Well, at least one of them does. To me, that's living a beautiful life.
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