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Another Christmas Day has passed, the seventieth of my existence, of the first four or so I remember not a bit. At least not consciously. At my Mother's house I swear I could almost hear the echo of my Dad's voice, though he has been gone nearly thirteen years.
The memories of all of those who have passed on remains with me, for all the Christmas Days I spent together with them, some have been gone so very long that it staggers my imagination.
Returning from New Hampshire I drove past the hill upon which stood my paternal grandparents' home. It was fifty-one years ago this very Christmas season that I last saw my Scottish grandmother as I stopped by to see her and my grandfather before heading back to college. She wouldn't make it to Spring.
But she and so many others fill my Christmas memories. A memory of Okinawa and my first Christmas away from home reminded me of the men and women I served with and the party they had put together to celebrate Christmas in the barracks.
I can still picture one of our number, dressed in red sweat pants and sweat shirt, wearing a red knit cap trimmed with cotton, he even had a fake cotton beard he'd somehow patched together, running about laughing as we played touch football out behind the barracks. (The "touches" being somewhat rougher than one would expect, it was almost full contact!)
I'm reminded of Christmas in Germany, seven times. It was just the five of us, our little crew, the kids, The Missus Herself, and Your Humble Scribe along with a couple of felines. But we reveled in each other's company, thinking that it would never end.
But kitties pass on, all too soon, and children grow up to start their own families and traditions. I am left with the echoes of those good times. It gives me a warm, happy feeling, even as I miss those days, I love that I was there and shared in them.
Christmas isn't over, not by a long shot. The day itself has passed, but until Epiphany fades, I celebrate.
May you get to spend time with your loved ones, now and throughout the year.
God Bless.
Beautiful thoughts wonderfully expressed,Sarge. Perhaps because we are of an age and at a stage that this resonates with me; but it could also just be great writing.
ReplyDeleteI am fortunate that I got to spend Christmas with the seven people most important to me; three generations of us, the newest just two weeks old. I am blessed; hope others more deserving are as well.
Boat Guy
Thanks BG.
DeleteOf course I relished in my own fond memories of Christmas Past and the long gone parents and loved ones. The 12 day continuation for the Epiphany is an important acknowledgment. Thank you and Merry Christmas Old Airforce Sarge.
ReplyDeleteFranknbean
And to you and yours!
DeleteSarge, when I was rather young my Great Aunt and Uncle would have a Christmas celebration at their house. With my Great Aunt's sisters, including my maternal grandmother, there were likely 50 or more people there, more or less all related. The Aunties would sing and my Great Uncle would get down and play his fiddle as they would dance with their husbands and each other. They had been doing this for years before I had arrived, echoes of growing up poor and during the Depression.
ReplyDeleteThen life happened of course: my Uncle got cancer, the Aunties started to pass away, and people began to move away. These things happen. But to this day, I can still hear my Uncle singing and playing the fiddle.
That's the sort of memory which sticks with you forever.
DeleteIt has been 70 Christmases! It's hard to remember the early ones... is it a real memory or do I recall it because of the homes movies my dad took? Is there a difference?
ReplyDeleteI don't recall any Christmas with my grandparents (it would be my grandma), I do remember one at my Aunt's place (dad's sister) in Portland OR. Most of my memories are of ones where I was the parent..
It's 55° out back (in the shade) here in the Tampa area and it's supposed to get up into the 70's today!
I just looked, it's 22° in Bemidji MN, 34° in Traverse City MI, 31° in Buffalo Grove IL, 39° in Tahuya WA, 68° in Ewa Beach HI, 63° in Redondo Beach CA and 48° in Pacifica CA.
See where looking back on this fine winter's day takes me? :-)
Mid 30s yesterday, dipped down into the low 20s last night, at 10 AM it's 35 already. Feels warm compared to last week!
DeleteI spent two Christmas times at Itazuke AB. The bachelors in the 68 FIS, PACAF ("We get ours at night!"), enlisted and everybody pulled the 24 hour plus shift on that special day at the pad. There would always be talk with "Gordon" our JASDF radar site. They would be on alert for incoming from the North, we hoped for a scramble (that would be our gift).
ReplyDeleteWe loved doing a corny skit on the local base radio thing, pretending to get that scramble and go through all the commotion attached thereunto. Sitting in the Deuce, helmet on, using a UHF channel to get the proper sound effect on a discreet frequency. Radio comm with Gordon, the tower for "take off" and Gordon again for vectors to the North to find out who the intruder might be. "Gate climb to angels forty, heading 350 degrees". It was all great fun and I'm told that the kids on the base enjoyed the program. It was always Santa that we found and he was always faster than out supersonic deuce, never to be caught. Fun times during some of the good years of my USAF bachelor life.
Good times!
DeleteMerriment will continue until the needles fall off the tree in my house! My wife grumbles a bit, but I keep her in line. If it's a fire hazard, I will allow its removal, but the manger scene stays until the Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh arrive!
ReplyDeleteI just realized that first line I wrote sounds like "the beatings will continue until morale improves." Mandatory celebration until Epiphany!!!
It did kinda sound like that!
DeleteTrust you and yours are well!
We are very! MIL in town for the holidays- 16 days in total...looooong trip, even though she's great.
DeleteNah, Christmas isn't over. It's been a tough one, yet a few almost miracles have happened. Treasure your family and friends, Treasure this country and Treasure the Lord (Not necessarily in that order). Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year to all of y'all out there!
ReplyDeleteNot yet, I try to keep it alive as long as possible.
DeleteI'm praying for a near-term discharge from that NICU- time for those angels to let her go home!
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