Tradition - A New Chapter

Ordinarily on the day after Thanksgiving I would be returning home about now weary, loaded down with gifts, lighter in the pocketbook and ready to take a nap.  This year I decided to fore-go the craziness of Black Friday in favor of cleaning my house and decorating for the season.  I want to make this season a bit more laid back than usual.  It's time to re-evaluate the frenetic consumerism...I say that every year.  This year  already has a huge hole in it, mom isn't here.  I want to focus more on the things we used to do as kids when we didn't have much money as a private way of honoring her memory.  It's funny, I hardly remember the presents I got for Christmas as a kid, not that they weren't great, they just weren't the things etched in my memory and burned into my soul.  What I do remember is, making our own Christmas Stockings from felt scraps and sequins, baking cookies and other holiday treats, decorating, making Christmas Decorations, putting on the Sing Along With Mitch Christmas Album as we actually DID sing along.  I remember all the family coming over for a light buffet, candles burning, decorating the tree, putting those damn icicles on the tree one by one.
Mom liked to have everything done just right, but she made sure we had a great time, I know she fixed the tree after our attempts at decorating but she did a great job.  We painted the windows with holiday scenes, from scratch...not stencils.  That's how I plan to spend the holiday, doing the fun stuff, watching It's A Wonderful Life, Christmas Carol and Elf, not at the mall.  That doesn't mean there won't be presents, just a lot fewer of them this year.  We have started a few additional traditions, I always have a day set aside to do Gingerbread Houses with the Grandkids, my two girls and I have a power baking day and our Christmas Eve dinner.  I feel blessed that each year the whole immediate family stays overnight and Santa comes here.  It's great chaotic, messy fun and I love it.  I think they do too.  Hopefully my dad will want to join us this year.  He and my mom always spent Christmas Eve going to church and then spending a quiet evening at home.  They would open presents on Christmas Eve, my mom started that one, she couldn't wait until morning.  In the afternoon we would all invade her house, she had a buffet with her homemade chocolate covered cherries, ham, potato salad, breads, all her homemade goodies.  We would all gather round the tree and open gifts then the extended family would come over.   Oh it's so hard to think of Christmas without mom this year and every year going forward.  She is here in spirit of course, but oh how I miss her physical presence and love.