 Image from cardsdirect.com So many things left undone...oh sure, the tree is up, the stockings hung, the presents are stashed in bags waiting to be wrapped and here I am stuck in my head while the time ticks down closer to "the Day". I would blame it on the rain, or the fact that we're about to have one of the warmest Christmases on record, but the truth is those things have nothing to do with my complete lack of motivation to get the rest of my Christmasing "done". I am distracted...by the fact that yesterday I went to lunch with my mother's sister to celebrate mom's birthday and learned that I have the same handwriting as my Aunt Barbara, who passed away not that long ago. I am distracted...by the fact that my little girl is almost gone. I keep thinking of the various Christmases spent when she and her sister were little. A military family does the holidays a little different than most, especially when you're often forced to celebrate things or special days on random days to work around a deployment schedule. My head is also full of childhood memories of this time of year, more so this year than ever. I remember one year when our tree arrived, I was so disappointed that it looked barely even like a tree, much less a Christmas tree. I cried when it went up, but Aunt Mattie promised me, "When we finish decorating it, I promise you it will be beautiful." She wasn't wrong. It was probably the best Christmas tree of memory from my childhood and taught me the valuable lesson of looking past the superficial to find the true "heart" of a thing (or a person).
The house is quiet, with just me and the dogs here to pass the day. The talking heads are on TV, but I couldn't tell you even ten words they've said in the last two hours. My "to do" list is glaring like some cheap, flashing motel sign and I won't be able to ignore it forever. But honestly, if I had my way, I'd slog through the holiday traffic, make a pilgrimage to the book store, come home and spend the next handful of days with my nose in a book...or five. Alas, the characters of my own book are waiting for me to finish telling their story and send them off to an editor. No more time for "wool gathering". I hope your holiday season is filled with joy. One of my most treasured gifts is all of you who share this journey with me. Merry Christmas. Love, A.
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About The Author
I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter. Archives
August 2021
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