Christmas

Christmas-When I was deliberating what to write for my next blog, the
thought crossed my mind to write something totally different. So I am
writing about some or the Christmases that I have had. At least, what I can
remember.

When I was a child, a long time ago, living in the country, one of the
highlights of Christmas was the concert at our one-room school. Everybody,
young and old,  went so it was a major community event. Another memory of
mine was of our Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, Dad would cut a tree down
and us kids got to decorate it. I don't suppose that it looked very
"professional" but it was sure was an exciting time for us kids. A tradition
we had was that, on Christmas Eve, we got to open gifts from other people,
like cousins, etc., but the gifts from "Santa" we had to Christmas morning.
Like any kids, we must have driven our parents crazy, wanting to get up
waaay too early. I can't, though, recall what we did for Christmas dinner.

Once we moved to Medicine Hat, we still always had a real tree. Though, of
course, it was bought , not cut down! And, because we had power, we could
even put lights on the tree. Other than that, our Christmases were pretty
much the same as before. I don't really remember what we did for Christmas
dinner but a good guess is that we spent at least some of them with cousins
who lived in Redcliff, a mere two miles from Medicine Hat.

While I was going to university, and even the first couple of years in Cold
Lake, there is nothing to tell about Christmas because I always spent
holidays at home.

After I got married, though, we always spent Christmas in Cold Lake. I guess
neither one of us wanted to travel that far in winter. His family lives in
Ontario and even Medicine Hat is no short jaunt. The first year, we kept up
the tradition of a real tree. However, when I was vacuuming needles out of
the carpet in July, we decided that it was time to convert to artificial. It
is funny what one remembers. I remember the tree but not much else. Once we
had kids, we liked to stay home so they could play with the toys.

Since the stroke, my Christmases have been different, to say the least. The
first Christmas after the stroke, my husband would have taken me home. He
used  to take me home every weekend and looked after me like any nurse
would. I was lighter back then so he could easily lift and carry me. Though
I couldn't do anything, I did enjoy watching the kids. But my trips home
stopped once I ended up in the condition I am at present. For a number of
Christmases , my kids came in the afternoon to open gifts and in the
evening, I would go to friends' place for supper. But my kids grew up and
left home and my friends left the church. Now most of my Christmases are
pretty much like any other day. But, except for one year, there has always
been someone, maybe a nurse who would be alone too, to spend time with me,
usually in the evening, opening gifts. And I always look forward to getting
Christmas greetings by e-mail, either from my kids or other people. That one
Christmas when I was alone really hit home to me just how lonely Christmas
can be for some people. The nurses here do something that I think is so
nice. Every Christmas they pick names and each one buys a gift for one of
the people in this place. The sad thing is that, if they didn't, every year
there seems to be at least one person who wouldn't even get a gift at
Christmas.

Remembering my different Christmases, I realize that there was no mention
church. When I was a child, I know we lived too far from a church but I
don't know why, once we moved to Medicine Hat, we didn't go to church at
Christmas. We went other times. Of course, by the time I went to university
and first came to Cold Lake, I wanted nothing to do with church. My husband
and I never thought of church at Christmas or any other time. It was only
after the stroke, when I became a born-again Christian, that I understood
the importance of church at Christmas and what it is really all about.