Finding a place to survive when your world
has been torn apart.
It doesn’t matter
whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice or another observance that you
celebrate at this time of year, our memories of being HOME for it are probably
similar.
The idea of going
HOME for the holidays fills us with warm images, of sleigh bells and dreidels,
of lattes and latkes, of Hallmark moments complete with snow, ice skating, and
houses with glowing lights. Although if we live in a warmer climate, Santa might
wear shorts, and Christmas lights are strung in palm trees.
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I love your writing. This is my first Christmas without him and I want to sleep until 2015. Thank you for being there. For expressing what is deep within.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tricia. I'm so sorry about your loss, and I know how hard that first Christmas can be. So much is different. It was hard enough to get through each ordinary day, and now we have to listen to all the advertisements telling us we're supposed to be joyful! I will think of you as I continue to write and share.
DeleteAh, home. This piece is so beautiful, Mark. This year, my mother-in-law who will be 99 in January was invited to visit relatives in Connecticut for Christmas. This is her childhood home. She surprised us and decided to go. I think it is that homing instinct, the place where mother was, the place where she hopes to find her ideal past before her only child died. So I'm released to leave the house where I've spent the last six Christmases with my sons, mother-in-law, and a huge sense of my husband's absence. Instead, I'm taking a road trip with my dog to visit my son and his wife in NC. I have the fantasy this is the beginning of a new family tradition. I think I'm still looking for HOME.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said, Elaine. I wonder if home is more of a physical place or a place that we carry inside us.
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