Letting Go of Christmas

I always have a hard time letting go of Christmas.  Not just because I’m a poor transitioner, but also because I love the season.  For some people this time of year isn’t filled with love, laughter, joy and hope, but the Lord has greatly blessed me and my cup overflows with those things at Christmas.  The birth of my Savior, the beautiful music that goes with the season and the matchless Nativity Story.  Christmas cookies.  Lots of them.  Parties.  Family gatherings.  Christmas lights on the house and the tree, memories that flood when I hang ornaments and place the Spode china in the cabinet and put out the Christmas shelf decorations, in the past for my children now for the grandchildren.  I love it all.

This morning I sat with my granddaughters on a generations old cedar chest in my bedroom.  Emily read aloud a book she made for me when she was 5 and played the recording of her sweet voice saying, “I made this just for you Grandma because I love you so much.”  Molly stood on my other side and with my arms wrapped around them both as we talked and laughed all I could think of was that my heart was smiling.  These wonderful moments – why would anyone ever want to let them go?!

Their annual weeklong visit just ended but the glow that is in the house when my daughter and her family are here stays with us for weeks.  Our traditions are simple and not unique – early morning day after Christmas shopping just my daughter and me, Emily and Molly out in our front yard selling my homemade Christmas cookies (some years are better than others), watching a Christmas movie as a family, playing games (Clue and Monopoly are the current favorites), a big Christmas feast on the Christmas china with all my children and theirs (Lena we missed y’all this year, only illness could have kept you away!) and my baby sister, lots of visits from my son and his, building villages and cities and compounds with my serious collection of Legos kept from when my two were little, hot chocolate with tons of tiny marshmallows, Christmas cookies, lots and lots of stories, and time to just visit.  Heaven.

Now the house is quiet, not in a lonely sort of way but in a soft lingering way that is peaceful and hopeful, mitigating the underlying emptiness of already missing these loved ones.  I am grateful that we had this time, for we have other kids and grands that live so far away we don’t see them nearly as often.   That distance has taught me that real family love isn’t hampered by miles when hearts are aligned.  

Over the next few days I’ll pack up the Christmas china, the shelf decorations and the tree ornaments and store them away until next November.  The few remaining Christmas cookies will be eaten at home and shared at work.  I will once again get used to the grandkids room as my prayer room and the guest room will be freshened to stand ready and waiting for its next occupants.  But for now I’m going to savor the moments and memories, sitting in the soft glow of the tree lights sipping from a Christmas cup and thanking God with all my heart for my blessings who have been living among us this past week.  I’ll let go on another day.