A Holiday Thought from someone with no living family

aggieAXO · #1 12-22-2006, 11:54 PM

I have missed this thread the last few years. Thank you James for reminding us what Christmas is all about. I usually have to work the holidays. This year I will be taking Chrsitmas off. Unfortunately, my grandmother died 2 months ago-it is sad that I did not get to spend time with her last Christmas. My family is shrinking and to put it frankly-it sucks. I will not get another Christmas off for many years (unless I quit my job) so I plan to enjoy this one as much as possible.

Merry Christmas everyone. Please stay safe.

Jimmy Choo · #2 12-23-2006, 01:14 AM

This post is soooo touching!! As someone who also has no living parents I can relate to what James was saying in his original post. Best wishes to James and all of GC this season!

honeychile · #3 12-23-2006, 02:47 AM

James, the offer is still good, and the rum balls are about 190 proof. Let me know if you care to join us - sincerely! Honey

Tom Earp · #4 12-23-2006, 05:07 PM

Thank you so much for the bump!

It is hard to type with tears in ones eyes.

Christmas as we know today is for the kids, but for us that have lost people, it is a time of rememberence of those that we have lost.

Think of them just smiling down upon us and saying, hey mother/father, I guess we did not do to bad of a job in raising them.

God Bless one and all.

KSigkid · #5 12-23-2006, 05:26 PM

This has been such a crazy year; a number of family members passing away, and my own health scare (which turned into heart surgery over the summer, and nearly having a code blue called on me in recovery). Now I'm healthy, in law school, and a first-time homeowner. Talk about a roller coaster.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season with their loved ones.

Tom Earp · #6 12-23-2006, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSigkid

This has been such a crazy year; a number of family members passing away, and my own health scare (which turned into heart surgery over the summer, and nearly having a code blue called on me in recovery). Now I'm healthy, in law school, and a first-time homeowner. Talk about a roller coaster.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season with their loved ones.

Hey Dude, a life saved is good especially when it is yours!

That is a Plus in any book!

Back at You for a fine Holiday, You desireve it!

cutie_cat_4ever · #7 12-23-2006, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

James, the offer is still good, and the rum balls are about 190 proof. Let me know if you care to join us - sincerely! Honey

Thanks for bumping this thread

It actually brought tears to my eyes.

Happy Holidays everyone and cherish your time with everyone you love

AKA_Monet · #8 12-24-2006, 10:46 PM

My family is living and I although I have yet to have clue about what its like to have an immediate family member pass, I was taught a long time ago that while alone you develop your own "family" traditions.

Now, my husband barely celebrates the Holidays, where we barely see any immediate family members, we are thankful to each other. And we are developing our own "family" traditions...

I purchase exotic meats for him to eat: i.e. Alligator Snapping Turtle or Bear Bacon... I just got him some pricey Kobe tenderloin for him...

And I'm a vegetarian.

It's one of the best Christmases I've had in a long time!

dekeguy · #9 12-24-2006, 10:56 PM

In keeping with this rather wonderful thread may I offer a toast:

To Present Company and Absent Friends!

Thank you, James, for reminding us what all of this is really all about.

Thank you, all GCers who have contibuted to the thoughts expressed in this thread.

btb87 · #10 12-30-2006, 10:33 PM

Don't know why this was the 1st time I've seen this thread, but I'm glad that I did. I just got back from my grandmother's house in NC (where I grew up) and I think because this has been such a difficult and crazy year for me, I had to go home this year. Normally for me, I want to go home, but this year, I needed to be home, and I'm so glad I went. It was, in the words of a Kelly Price song, a "Healing for my Soul". No amount of medicine could have done what that visit did for me. There were 4 generations of women in that house, and 8 of my grandmother's 10 grandchildren were there, as well as 5 of her 10 great-grandchildren. Yes, family can and will sometimes work the nerves, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.