Christmas Traditions

Christmas time is for family and traditions.  It's really for children.  It's seeing their faces light up on Christmas morning when they see all the presents under the tree or seeing them struggle with their lines in the Christmas Pageant at church.  It's hearing them sing all the wrong words to the Christmas carols and hymns.  It's listening to the sound of feet pitter pattering down the hall and hearing the screams of delight when they realize Santa came. It's the licking the spoon after candy making.  It's the hugs and laughter and joy from children that make Christmas so worth it. 
When I was a little girl my Daddy and I would go out into the woods a few weeks before Christmas on his horse to find the perfect Christmas tree.  Granted we were just looking for a old cedar tree that God happened to shape like a Christmas tree, but to me we were finding a treasure.  We'd look and look and I'd usually find all the trees that were growing up between a fence row - for some reason they were always the prettiest. Then I would ask my Daddy why didn't they make that fence go around the tree, and he'd explain that the fence was there first and the tree grew up into the fence.  Now that really blew my 5 year old mind.  Then, we'd have a very long conversation about how birds eat seeds and then sit on a fence and poop.  Lovely Christmas tree finding conversation.  Finally after some searching and more than likely me complaining about my booter being tired from sitting on the saddle and hungry and cold, we'd find the perfect tree.  We (meaning he) would saw it down then we (meaning he) would tie a rope around the trunk and we'd drag the tree home.  At that moment when we lit that tree up, it was just as beautiful as the tree that graces Rockefeller Center.  It was our tree, one that we were proud of, one we made memories with, one we started a tradition with. 
This Christmas we are continuing our traditions, not the Christmas tree one, but all the others that we have established over the years.  We will make candy on Christmas eve, read the Christmas story, eat and laugh on Christmas day, and make my wiener dog wear the reindeer antlers.  We are blessed enough to be able to do it with rejoicing hearts this year.  Sometimes I  imagine what life would be like if Heath hadn't made it, and I shudder at the mere thought, but Christmas time would be the worst.  My heart aches for the families that are without their loved ones this Christmas.  The only peace I can think they will find is remembering past Christmas's and the love that was shared then.  If you are blessed enough this Christmas to be with your loved ones - start a new Christmas tradition - don't wait for next year or for a near death experience to realize you need to love what is here in the present.  Begin a tradition that will carry on for years to come.  Even if it's as simple as riding in the woods to find love and make memories. 

From our family to yours - Merry Christmas!

'Til Tomorrow

Norman Rockwell Christmas

I love Christmas.  I tend to get a little over excited at Christmas time.  I cry at the dang Folgers commercial.  I act like I have never seen Christmas lights when I drive through Minden and press my face against the truck window.  Jeremy hates it when I do that - he says it leaves smears on his windows. Killjoy.  I almost lose it whenever Rudolph comes on prime time.  I turn up radio and sing Christmas carols  like I'm a rockstar.  I don't care if they all cover their ears or give me dirty looks - my coworkers secretly love it. I almost go into a diabetic coma eating all the candy everyone sends - I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  I scared a poor little patient yesterday whenever I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she said "The Michael Jackson Wii game," and then I screamed "Oh,OOOOH, meeee too!". She jumped and looked a little frightened.  I may have even spit on her a little bit.  I just love Christmas.  But then my anxiety sets in and I panic a little bit.  I realize that I haven't gotten everything done I wanted to do. I start counting all the things that are still not done and I have a small nervous breakdown.  I cry, press my face against the wall, lose it, sing loud, eat, and yell - but it ain't the happy excited kind.   I still have Christmas cards to mail, gifts to buy, candy to make, decorating to do and cheer to spread.  I start to count the days and I can't believe it's right here staring me in the face. But right before I have the melt down in the aisles of the Wal-Marts, I stop and breath and talk to people and realize - everyone is in the same boat and even if everything isn't  Norman Rockwell perfect - it is perfect.  We celebrate and rejoice because every year no matter what Christmas comes without fail. It will be just as perfect as the first Christmas even if I don't buy one present or hang one wreath.  I just have to remind myself every year. 

'Til Tomorrow

Confessions

Have y'all seen the picture of the smoking baby?  I mention it here to remind myself that other kids do bad stuff too.  I know when you looked at it you probably were appalled and then kind of laughed.  That was my reaction today.  But not to the smoking baby. 

I had a childhood friend that I shared everything with.  We played together, took dance together, vacationed together, and even got in trouble together.  We were inseparable.  As running buddies, we shared a special secret.  We cussed when we were in elementary school.  And we cussed good.  We knew how to cuss like poets.  You know, using the cuss words correctly.  There is nothing more annoying than hearing someone use a cuss word out of context.  It's just so amateur -  not us, the professtional 2nd grade cussers.  We knew just when to say the correct cuss word and when.  We were cool.  I can remember a girl coming up to us on the playground and saying, "So- I hear y'all cuss. Is that true?" She was a grade ahead of us so it was just special she was even talking to us.  We replied, " Yeah.  So?" Older cooler girl, "Ok.  Just asking.  Cool."  Then she put her cigarette out with her foot.  Naw, just kidding about the cigarette -not about the conversation.  True story.  Now, we were young so we weren't using any big league cuss words.  We were smart about it, we made sure we didn't cuss around any tattlers or teachers or parents.  Anyway, we cussed and we cussed artfully.  I guess every kid does.  Sorry Mama.  I know you tried.

Today, I got "The Call".  The one where a teacher calls to tell you that your child asked if _____ was a cuss word.  THE CUSS WORD.  You know the one.  The granddaddy of them all.  After I revived myself with smelling salts and someone performed CPR on me, I composed myself enough to ask the teacher where she *gulp* heard it from.  Apparently, it was written down (not by her) and she sounded it out.  She is great with phonetics.  Mercy me.  Parenting ain't for sissies or the faint of heart. Yes - I was appalled but then I faked a laugh and then I moved on.  Thank goodness for good teachers. And a sense of humor.  And a strong heart.  And for Lava soap.

Til Tomorrow

Heroes

We aren't promised anything in life.  We aren't even promised that we will get to come home tonight after work.  Sometimes just the routine things that we do everyday may be our last time to do them.  What if the last time you talked you your mom was the last time? What if the last time you kissed your husband or wife was the last time? Or what if the last time you tucked your baby into bed was the last time?

I don't know Pie personally but I am pretty sure she's the baddest chick in town.  I am impressed with her quick wit and cool head. She's so cool that I think I might be her for Halloween next year. She makes women everywhere want to own a gun and know how to use it.  Now, if y'all aren't familiar with what I'm talking about I will give you the abbreviated version.  Pie was kidnapped at gunpoint from a gas station in Springhill while she was pumping gas.  She was then forced to drive into Arkansas, where she made a decision that probably saved her life.  She decided she wasn't going any further with this man.  She grabbed a gun, fired shots at the dude, bailed out of her car, and then she ran for her life.   As I watched her interview on a local news station, I was struck by her comment about "the will to live".  Wow.  She knew exactly what she had to do to stay alive and she knew exactly why she needed to be alive.  I'm sure in a million different ways she thought about a beautiful little 4 month old girl she needed to pick up.  She knew that she had so many things she had left to do.  If she was like me she had laundry that needed folding and chicken that needed cooking. She probably even had a Wal-Mart list.  She may have even forgotten to feed her dogs that day.  She had to give her husband a good night kiss and (if he is anything like mine) find his socks for him.  She had diapers to change and kisses to steal.  She had bedtime stories to read and a game of peek-a-boo to play.  She had a life to live.  An ordinary, extraordinary, plain, wonderful life.  I don't know what actually went through her mind, but the thoughts were of her family - that I'm sure of.  The will to live far outweighed any fear that she had.  Her will to live - her survival instinct - was fueled by a family that she had said good bye to earlier in the day and even though it was unspoken, she promised them she would return.  It was all in her goodbye.  You and I say it everyday - "Bye! See you later".  Some don't get to keep that promise, but Pie did.  She not only got to come home, but she showed her daughter what a hero is really made of. In years to come someone will tell that little girl what her mom did and she will be so proud to have such a strong courageous mommy.
Thanksgiving this year was sweeter than the last for Pie and her family. They had so much to be thankful for.  Whenever faced with a near tragedy it makes the plainest moments in life that much sweeter and more meaningful. 
I know about near tragedies, and I know about sweeter moments.  Tomorrow is never promised, we don't know what is in store for us.  What we do have is the now, the exact moment when we start living our life and we stop waiting for the tomorrow we are never promised.

Pie- I'm glad you got to keep your unspoken promise and come home - Welcome home to your new life!

'Til Tomorrow