Christmas without Ma

Christmas on a Monday is just weird. 

This year I had 2 dogs that weren't able to travel even the 1 hour to Dad's.  So I went back and forth from Dad's to my place each day of the 3 day weekend.  Traffic was not as bad as I expected.

E2 got to Dad's around 8 or so Sunday night.  I was already home and in my jammies by then.  :-)

Christmas morning I got to Dad's around 8:30, I think.  There were presents all around the tree.  Dad was in his Christmas lounge pants and Grinch shirt.  I'm smiling as I'm typing that.

Ma was Santa at our house - the person that handed out the presents from under the tree.  This year Dad asked me to be Santa.  It threw me off balance for a second, but I dove right in.  Didn't get it quite right.  LOL - passed out everybody's presents, except my own.  But it was still fun seeing what everyone got.

While I thought everyone was having a good time I also felt like something was missing.  And I kept shaking off that it was Ma.  Because the feeling I had wasn't just missing a person in the home.

David cooked a very yummy dinner.

But that feeling stuck with me into the next day.  Until I realized it was Ma that I missed.  But not just her being in the house.  Her excitement at Christmas.  She loved Christmas.  Every Christmas Eve she'd try the same thing.  It would start with opening just one present.  Then she'd want all of us to open another one.  Again, I'm smiling typing that.  Her children telling her she had to wait till Christmas morning.

Then she'd try to stay up late, figuring 12:01 am counts as Christmas morning.  Nope, Lady, go to bed.

I've started talking to my Ma.  Normally when I'm outside working in my yard.  I'm finding it helps me relax.

We received a beautiful gift from one of Ma's sisters-in-law in Ma's memory.  An angel, I think made out of crystal.  She (the angel, not my aunt) is on the tree now, but Dad is going to keep that angel out all year long.