The stockings were hung on the railing with care…
Dec 30th, 2008 by Liz Bennefeld
How much we leave behind as we move through life! We change. We move from one place to another, both physically and mentally. The people we knew in particular surroundings, we no longer know, since their paths have taken them in new directions without reference to us.
The Stockings Were Hung
Family traditions are like that. Would the Christmas holiday feel like Christmas, if you could never return to that environment? So many things depend on the presence of other people…if not the same folks, then others who fill those same or similar roles closely enough that one can pretend for a while.
I love Christmas for the ties with family. Even if I’m no longer “one of the kids,” I’m still part of the family. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
In my family, it seems, we gather only when our parents invite us to do so. I don’t see anyone taking over that focal point after my mother and father die. Mom’s only 86, but Dad is 92. My siblings and their children are grown and involved in their own families and traditions. Now that my parents are finding it too much of a strain to have a Christmas gathering at their home, it wouldn’t surprise me if nobody picks it up. In truth, they’re the only ones in the family with a house large enough to accommodate such a gathering.
Al’s family will continue group celebrations; his sisters have taken over the role of bringing the family members together. For me, though, it’s coming to an end. With them gone, there will be no family nucleus. . . . I’m not even sure that is a bad thing. It’s going to be different, though, and nonrecoverable.
I guess you’e right. As the folks who draw folks together drop out, you may or may not have others step in. Dad’s famly is so distant, I’m not as aware of that as I might be otherwise. {Smile}
I don’t know that such changes are bad. They’re not always good, but they’re not always bad either. {Smile}
Anne Eliabeth Baldwin