Christmas Past

This thread is for remembering all those we have loved and lost.

I really miss my Mum and Dad at Christmas.
I loved spoiling them at Christmas time, as they did me when I was little.

I have wonderful memories of Christmas past.

On Christmas eve my Dad would visit all his large family, he would arrive home after me and my younger brother were fast asleep. I think he would be rather tipsy. lol

He would put our Christmas sacks full of presents at the foot of our beds.
One year he got them mixed up, I opened mine to find Action men, and toy guns. lol

I miss you, Mum, I miss you Dad, I miss you, baby brother.
But, my memories of you all live on.

 

Blessings to you Candy. Loving memories of days past are precious and help sustain us.

 

That is so true. Bless you Joey. xxx

 

That’s a wonderful memory Candy. I would go out to my grandmothers farm to spend Christmas. Many cousins to play with. We were all poor by today’s standards but a lot of fun.

 

Money cannot buy happiness, our memories are a treasure beyond gold. xxx

 

Absolutely

 

Yes it can,
It could get me away from this dump that I live at and to a place where I can get peace and quiet and solitude which is what I want

 

Cayo my lovely. This is a thread is about memories of those we have lost. xxx

 

A message to my Mum and Dad

Miss you so much especially this time of the year .

Ive still got the fluffy owl which was the last Christmas Present that I bought for you mum .

To my partners Father

Miss you lots as you was a great mate to me and we had some great times together . I know you was a skilled butcher but I hope you dont mind the both of us now being veggie .

To Tony

Saddened that you was taken away from us at such an early age . 40 is no age . We had some great times together messing about on the buses


God Bless you All

xx xx xx

 

Our family Christmas celebration has not been the same since we lost my dad. You could see the joy on his face when all of his kids and grand kids were gathered together. He and mom had an arrangement that they bought their own Christmas gifts, but still wrapped them and placed them under the tree, Even though this was common knowledge, they would feign surprise when they opened it. He would wrap something stupid like a package of boxer shorts and act like it was the best gift he ever got. Then he'd ask Mom..."What did I get you?"
This year, with the pandemic, we are not having a typical celebration. Mom is very worried about Covid. SO we are having a virtual get together. I know Dad would have made this almost as good as the real thing.

 

....

My my big sadness this year was losing my lovely Brother in Law to horrible and terrible Penile Cancer.
He struggled along with it for around 3 years one way and another.
But it got him in the end!
Part of the sadness for me was that because of Covid and me living in Wales.
My Wife and I could not go to the funeral.
I feel so guilty about that.
My beautiful Sister is missing him terribly.

RIP John.

 

I have had lovely Christmases with my family and it really is about the getting.

 

As we stood in a circle to celebrate, albeit a couple of days early, I noticed that for the first time in my life I am now the oldest of the family. No longer is someone older as all before me have gone on. It has been a harsh year for us as we lost four and they are missed. It was a quick feeling of dismay as I then saw the youthfulness in all of us as we gathered and talked, played, and reminisced of days gone by. No more sorrow of the past but looking forward with anticipation of what the future will bring. Our children are actively employed and planning for future events to come. Grandchildren are still excited by even the simplest things in life and their enthusiasm spreads throughout all of us like wild fire. Yes we miss those loved ones who trod this earth before us. But we also look forward to the adventures of those who are with us today and beyond.

 

One Christmas morning I was sent with my younger brother to visit Grandama.
On the way, we passed the canoe lake, it was frozen. I was wearing my new knee high boots I got for Christmas.
I thought I was so grown up in them, although I was just 13.
I said to my brother lets go skating?
NO he said.
I stepped onto the ice and fell in!!!
It was freezing!
My brother laughed so much, he could not help me out.
We arrived at Grandma's and I could not stop shivering.

 

That may cause pneumonia.

 

Nah Grandama looked after me.

Do you think of a wonderful Christmas past with your Mum?

 

My mum was Christmas. Kind of like what Grand said about his father. My mother would be cooking the best Turkey dinner. She loved Christmas.

 

Then we can pay tribute to those wonderful memories darling. xxx
It makes us feel warm inside.

 

At my age, I have seen many of my friends and family die and they all had their affects, but perhaps the saddest was shortly after Jane and I planned to marry and her sister came to visit us in London. At 9 years old, Jane was her big sister and she regarded her as a second mother. During her visit, we took her all over London and she loved every moment of it. Being from a country area, she was up to everything, running around, swimming and climbing trees.
A few weeks after she returned to Ireland, she called us, delighted with her break and said that her mother could not believe that when I took her to the airport, rather than get one of the stewards to look after her, I gave her to the pilot who allowed her on the flight deck for the entire journey.
She was making jokes about swirling images and distorted vision and told us that she was looking forward to her journey to the city the following day to see the doctor.
We got a call the next day from Jane's mother, to say that they were keeping her in hospital for observation. Then another call saying that she was in theatre, followed by a third call to say that she died immediately following surgery to remove a tumour that was covering 70% of her brain. The doctors knew that recovery was impossible.

Although all this was 51 years ago, it is still probably the saddest day of my life and the first thing that came to mind when I started reading your thread.
Needless to say, I was very fond of my mother, but when she died at 97, it was not entirely unexpected. Their is just something different when a healthy child dies. It is hard to put it into words.