December 18, 2008
Christmas
I’ve
lived for 54 Christmases counting next week; the first fifty-three with my
family. (Two were celebrated in January. 1995 and
2001.) This will be the first one I will not celebrate with them at
all. I will phone, but it won't be the same. No Christmas
music. No kapusta or Polish sausage or ham. No
laughter. (For 50 years that I can remember my father has told us to save the
wrapping paper from the gifts. We do save the ribbons.)
I
am obviously not one for sameness in my life, but the one event that has been
almost identical—save for the passing on of family members—has been
Christmas. And that's been just fine with me. But, now,
I'll miss two in a row. No matter where I live after the Peace
Corps, I'll do my best to resume the one tradition that has meant so much to
me.
To
everybody on this list, I truly hope you're able to share the holidays with
your family, or close friends, at the very least. Happy holidays and may
2009 be your best year yet!
In the book: what holidays mean to me and how I felt when I spent Thanksgiving with my family in 2015, only my 2nd in over 20 years.
