A Christmas Story

The holidays are here, and with their arrival there is the hustle and bustle of current activity. We all run around for those special gifts for your loved ones. There is the promise of time off from work and eating fattening foods and drinking a beverage or three and sleeping at your own pace. Sure, we run around at times, but, at this time, with the year also ending, it is a time to take stock of the present. And, to drift back to the past... If you have some years under your belt, like I have, you have the times of your life that you remember. The ghosts of Christmas past are very vivid and very near to you. I remember the gifts we got as kids. Between the 3 kids, there was always the friendly competition of who has the most presents piled up under the tree. One year it was me, the next year Brother Tom, and the next Sister Lisa. If you won, there was a slight smiling satisfaction of first place. My parents weren't playing favorites, of course. They spent the same amount on all of us according to our needs. You realize things a little better as you grow older and the Christmas bills come at you, but, Mom and Dad had a money tightness all of their lives. And, yet, they never disappointed us. We weren't spoiled, we knew how things were. Though it put them in a financial hole, we got our gifts. Don't get me wrong, we were middle class-- we didn't go without-- it was just we had a budget that the family adhered to. And, with those gifts, we also got the most precious thing they gave us: their unselfish and eternal love. I value nothing more in life than that...  There was always the matter of putting up the Christmas tree. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Not in my family.We MEN--- Tommy, Dad, and me-- would start out every year putting our artificial tree together. The endless boxes of ornaments and lights were the first order of business. My Dad never threw anything away so we had to test the same lightbulbs EVERY year. Most had burned out from the previous year, but, Dad, God Love Him,  insisted on keeping them. This was not wise, however. One year, after using the same lights that probably went back decades, we soon began to notice an odd smell coming from the tree. Sure enough, the tree was on fire!!! Not a raging inferno, but, enough to set off the smoke detectors. And, what screams Christmas more than smoke detectors, huh? After putting the fire to bed, Dad ruefully looked at the lights and said, '' Maybe, we need new ones.''... Back to putting up the tree, the three MEN  would instantly argue about how it looked. ''One side was crooked!!! No, it isn't!!''...''The ornaments seemed all wrong!!! That is because you made them wrong in school, brother!!!''...'' The star on top needed more support!! You don't know how to do this!!!''... The Three Wise Men at some point would get so mad at each other that we would walk away from the tree. And, then, my Mom would come in and quietly and perfectly solve the problem by putting up the most beautiful tree you have seen. The One Woman solving the problems The Men did. Mom did that a lot in our lives... Came dinner time on Christmas Eve. The night before Christmas was always us because Dad insisted on us being there. He said he wanted the family together. On Christmas Day, if we wanted to go other places, that was fine, but, Christmas Eve he wanted the family around him. Mom and Dad would also invite family and friends who had no other place to go on Christmas Eve. They didn't want anyone to be alone. This was what they were about. Two kind people who wanted people around them to share in the love of the family. They cared about other people. And, there was always a small gift for those ''orphans'' to open... At dinner, we would all gorge ourselves with lobster and shrimp. While cooking the fish, there would be tasty appetizers to munch on and some adult beverages. There would be plenty of spirited conversations and some serious arguing about whatever. They were arguments and disagreements only a family could have. No bad or hurt feelings would come of it.  Because it would always come back to the love we had for each other.... After dinner and the opening of presents, there came the silent, easy way of us enjoying each other's presence. It had been a long year. The constant struggle that confronts all of us in the real world was a distant memory. A sense of peace and joy of having family close was our feeling. We fought the world, but, that was on the other side of the front door. Here, in the warmth by the fire, was what family was meant to be. Quiet and relaxing. Occasionally, I would stick my head outside and feel the night. All the world seemed as one. No one was ever going to break this family up.... Death did... One by one, the family slowly went away. I always had the thought in the back of my mind that our time together wasn't permanent. However, it seemed to go away overnight. For every addition-- like my wonderful nephews-- there was a subtraction. First Tommy. Then Dad. Then my Grandmother. Then Mom. In a few years they were gone, never again to share the magic of us all being together on Christmas.... Now, many years later, we have a new family. The little runts who are my nephews have become grown men with children of their own. Lisa and I are still standing. We are the Old Guard. We are the people are parents were so long ago. And, we have with us the traits, and, I believe, the goodness, of my parents souls. We have carried on the tradition, inviting family and friends and ''orphans'' with no place to go, over to her house for Christmas Eve. We are spreading the oldest and best tradition there is: FAMILY. Love. Be there for each other. That is at the heart of  our family legacy, as I hope it is for your family. The love we spread to the next generation after we are gone. I am confident that feeling will continue forever.... In Heaven right now? Oh, I can tell exactly what is happening: God is telling Dad to throw away the old Christmas lights... Dad and Tommy are fighting over the Christmas tree in Heaven... My Grandmother is making some gravy... And, Mom is anchoring all the madness around her with a smile... Merry Christmas To You And Your Family, Everyone!!!