I dreaded the first Christmas after Bill died. So I asked each of my grown children to write down a memory of a non-monetary gift given them by their dad. After we finished dinner, we read our notes out loud as dessert.
Everyone participated and a few stood out:
From Rob, Jen’s fiance’,
“Thank you for giving me the gift of your daughter. I’m sad we never got to meet.”
From daughter, Jen,
“Last Christmas, the note dad sent me in the chicken scrawl of his increasing paralysis: ‘You’re still the apple of my eye.’ It’s the most touching and meaningful thing he left behind for me. I keep it in my billfold.”
From daughter-in-law, Wendy,
“Dad gave me the gift of acceptance. He talked to me and always valued my input and made me feel like I was a part of his family.”
And from eight-year-old granddaughter, Cassidy,
“I loved how granpa laught. He loved are jokes evan when they were not funny. His eyes got bright when he laught. His eyebrows would go up. And when we got hurt, he would always care. He had my dad and my dad had me. If he didn’t let my dad be born, I woldn’t be born.”
Learning from one another. Seeing our loved one through each other’s eyes, creating a whole. Sharing moments of Bill once again pointing to Christ and His Love, as he had so often done during his last months on earth.
Christmas…the season of hope and promise through the birth of Jesus.
It was a good day after all.
[...] Please read Christmas, Lost & Found [...]
Thank you, Susan.
Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.
This is lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Sandi,
The “dessert” your shared on Christmas was a beautiful idea and the gifts your husband left behind are priceless. I am so appreciative of your writing and sharing. This week has been a struggle for me. I get very emotional thinking of Christmas without Sam, but it is also my first. God has blessed me with two wonderful sons, family and friends to surround me this Christmas. I am holding on to the hope and promise of peace and comfort for each day. I wish you and your family a blessed Christmas. Although I do not know you or others that post on this blog, we are united in grief and for that I am truly grateful. Thank you for always sharing and most of all for the response you give to each individual.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Jenny.
I was very emotional during my first Christmas season without Bill too. I remember warning my kids ahead of time, because I was crying over EVERYTHING.
I like your focus. It makes what you’re going through, kind of bittersweet, doesn’t it?