Tuesday, December 25, 2012

A Christmas Reminder


Twenty-seven years ago, my mother-in-law passed away on Christmas Day.  From the time my first child was born, she had presented each of the grandchildren with an ornament for Christmas.  When she was gone, I continued the tradition, choosing appropriate ones for my sons each Christmas - a tooth with a little mouse dentist when DS2 thought he might want to be a dentist, ski and bike ornaments for DS1, soccer and baseball for DS2 and EMT and nursing ornaments for DS1, and so it goes.  

This year is sort of a low key celebration.  Neither of my sons could make it for Christmas Day and, without any grandchildren, the time of shopping for just the right toy or electronics has long passed.  DH and I did a little shopping, but we forgot the ornaments, despite reminding each other about the tradition.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, with the baking and decorating finished, I sat at the piano practicing.  There was no one else in the room with me and we no longer have any pets.  There were certainly no drafts in the room.  Suddenly I heard a tinkling of ornaments from the tree.  There was absolutely no explanation for it, but it suddenly reminded me that we had forgotten to buy ornaments.  I called the Christmas Loft and they were still open.  We jumped in the car and sped off to buy them as we traditionally did.  I felt as if my mother-in-law had sent me a reminder.  

That night, at the Christmas Eve service, a member of the choir sang “Ave Maria” for the first time in the twenty some odd years that we have attended Trinity Church.  It was the one piece that my mother-in-law had requested at her funeral.  Both DH and I sat there with tears rolling down our faces as we thought of her with love (and a thank you for the reminder).