This Christmas has been surprisingly pleasant. It mostly involved eating, walks with mom and Luke (the dog), watching movies, and visits with some very cute and rowdy nephews. Last Christmas I was in the field, around a muddy and wet campfire with young adult boys struggling with addiction and depression. I was grateful to have such an atypical Christmas for the first one without my Dad. This year, I knew I wanted to be at home with my family, even though I was expecting it to be pretty cheerless.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t. I live across the country, and I am rarely around people who knew Dad. In this Christmas season, it is soothing to be around others who loved him and miss him too. Dad’s presence was joyful, generous, and silly; you can’t take something like that away without a deficit. Thankfully his spirit was so full of these qualities, and he left some of the joy, generosity, and silliness with us here when he left our current world.
No comments:
Post a Comment