Hello, hello, hello! I am approaching the holiday season with some sadness. Sorry but I just had to get that out.
Anyway, as I age I remember past holidays and sometimes it is a bit tough. I used to be the Mom in a family of 5 with Inlaws and my Parents in for the holidays. I would cook and clean and shop and decorate and get all excited about the lovely holiday dinner I would serve. I am an only child and I felt terrifically lucky to have that big a gathering to cook for. Of course I loved to cook for them too. But anyway, that was there and then. Now I have 3 grown children, 2 with husbands and kids, who split their time between their father's home and mine. They don't live nearby.
And they really should be home for Christmas. We went to visit my Ex's parents sometimes but not until after the Santa thing was taken care of. Hard to do when you live 9 hours away.
I see that as one of the bigger problems facing the Retired Folks now. The RF's often live in the area they raised their family in but the children rarely do. Jobs are so hard to get now that often the family must move and move often. The airlines don't make the travel home for the holidays so easy either. And often the working folks don't have enough time off to make trips. So Mom and Dad are alone during the holidays.
I am glad there are free long distance plans for cell phones. I like that I can receive pics on the internet. I am happy to send greetings through the mail and in the form of gifts to my children and grandchildren. But it just isn't the same. I yearn for the days when the kids came down the stairs rubbing their sleepy eyes and all ready to open gifts. I long for the days when I wasn't Santa. I know I need to do something to add the joy back to my holiday spirit. This year my special someone gave me an adorable puppy for a Christmas gift. Yes she is super and fits right in with our other 2 dogs(furchildren). I am too tired from staying up with her to decorate. So I tivo'd a bunch of the Christmas shows that I have loved and am playing and replaying them. It helps. And God bless us everyone.
