Mom, me and bro: our last Christmas together
Holidays can be tough without my mom. She always made the holidays extra special with simple and small touches; from decorating the house to convincing the entire dinner table to join in (and ACT OUT) the 12 Days of Christmas (ever been to Café Un Deux Trois during the holidays?).
I feel the void of her passing tenfold between Halloween and New Year’s.
And it sucks.
So whenever I need a pick-me-up I grab the kids and we jump in the car and head for my neighbors’ street.
There’s a cul-de-sac about a mile away from my house that melts my heart. It has 3 homes on it that do a SPECTACULAR job of decorating their lawns and homes for the holidays. Some might think it borders on “over the top” and “tacky” but to me… this is one of THE best things about Christmas.
My mom was quirky and fun and one of her favorite things to do at the holidays was to drive around and try to find the best and worst Christmas lights. We did this a lot when I was growing up and it quickly became a tradition. My boyfriend (now my husband) was dragged along and put up with it (smart man).
Thankfully, he now appreciates why I insist on loading up the car with our pajama-clad kids and driving around looking at lights. He gets it. He remembers how excited my mom would get when we’d turn a corner and collectively gasp and squint from the glare of an emblazoned crèche. And I’m so grateful.
If I ever grumble when I start to put up own Christmas decorations, I try to remember that this little effort will bring me and my family a lot of joy. Because it does. And when I drive down my neighbor’s street and see all the sparkly lights it just makes me smile. I can’t help it. I think of the hours and hours and hours it must have taken them to put up these elaborate displays, from the Hawaiian themed ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ house complete with diving dolphins and Luau’d waving Santa; to the full-on Santa with eight glittery reindeer.
So I want to say a very heartfelt and big THANK YOU to my special random neighbors and to everyone out there that takes the time and effort to decorate their homes for the holidays.
These efforts bring a little piece of my mom back to me at the holidays. I smile and remember the gaudy and glitzy displays from years ago and laughing in the car… And I look at my own little family and am so incredibly grateful that I also get to share this with them.
To my neighbor that did this:
THANK YOU!!!
and to my Mom, Merry Christmas thank you for making those memories.
Miss you.
xo,
SARA