“MERRY CHRISTMAS”
…………………Sorry to be a day late, but I couldn’t post this Christmas message from my brother’s home….As they say….better late then never………I don’t remember much about last Christmas. I was in a daze, and did what I was told, and went where I was led. Thank God for my brother Mauro and my sister in law Kathy who took great care of me……This first year without my Jac has been, without question, the most difficult and desperately sad year of my life, and now another Christmas has come……This one somehow feels like the first one without Jac. All of my emotions are heightened and raw….I didn’t know what to post or what to say so I started looking through the many many photos in my library, and this collage came up! I knew immediately that this was the photo to post. I can’t remember a happier Christmas….This is our Christmas story out of all the Christmases we lovingly spent together……One night while we were snuggled in our bed we heard a terrible crashing noise!….Our Christmas tree had fallen down and most of our ornaments that we had collected over the years had broken…..All of the memories of collecting them, from near and far, were destroyed in an instant…We saw our history, our happy times broken into a million little pieces of glass on the floor…..I had mentioned what had happened in a post…….The next thing we knew there was a big box behind our front door????The Ladies of the Coterie had gotten together and bought beautiful ornaments, which they sent to us. To say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement…….Jac was so happy, we both were, but Jac was like a little girl opening each present. It was pure joy. I will never forget her face….Every year since, Jac would store this special group of ornaments in their own container, and every Christmas when we opened the box, the joy and memories would come pouring out…..Last year I brought the tree out at Thanksgiving so Jac could enjoy it. Jac didn’t want me to decorate it, because she thought it would be too much for me, and it would take too much time. She just wanted me to sit with her and enjoy the lights………..This year I was determined to decorate the house and the TREE as we always had it……..something I was compelled to do……..for Jac…… I have been flooded with all kinds of emotions. Her loss has never been as painful as it is now…………..Then I opened THE box of special ornaments and all of the good memories and the joys of that time came over me like a tsunami…..I will forever be grateful for being able to have this time with Jac and the happy memories that you gave us….They will be with me forever………….This will always be, for us, the true meaning of Christmas………………………………..Merry Christmas everyone……………may God bless each and every one of you and all of your loved ones……………………much Love……………………….Louis
