Christmas Remembrance
Here comes Christmas.. I really don`t know how I feel about Christmas anymore, its very strange. It used to be just the most greatest time of year to me but it is`nt anymore and in late November I start to dread the oncoming of the festive season. Yet it comes along, all the singing and dancing, good food and good cheer leading inevitably toward the start of another year …
Its been a time of great change this latter part of the year for me.. relationships of family members at an end, though at least not the friendship which is so important, not something I wish to “iron out” in public, though it has affected me in more ways than one… and so Christmas will be unlike the festive seasons of the few past years and though this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just … different. Seems to me the older we get the more “routine” plays its part and moving out of it seems somehow … weird!
I was reading thru` my son`s last writings and came across a piece he wrote in 2001, he would have been 17 when he put this down and I thought it was a very inspiring piece of writing for his age and so I decided to publish it here, in entirety, for all to read and maybe take notice of this Christmas. I feel sure he would not mind, he has published several other pieces of writing similar to this on deviantArt so I feel very proud to be able to show this, for the first time, warts and all, on my own blog…..
” Prose No.1 version 1
comment: This is inspired by several people, writers and someone I think is a writer! Its not very good …..
“STOP, yes, STOP! I`d just like you to take a moment and reflect. Right now you`re sat somewhere reading this. Are you eating or drinking something you normally eat or drink? If so, have some slowly, feel the textures,smell the aromas, let your taste buds get a good taste. Something you don`t normally do … you eat and run. I think its about time we all sat back and realised what we have.
We`re cruising along in life not realising the potential we all have, each day. We fear whats to come tomorrow, we regret what was yesterday but we ignore today. And today you`ll go through what you felt yesterday and tomorrow.
Appreciate whats today, the potential you have. Make a change, stand up, and shout. Shout anything you like. Express yourself, tell people you love them, like friends and family. Step back from that computer, turn the tv off. Talk and appreciate people.
We take SO MUCH for granted, the air we breathe, food we eat, bus drivers, that sexy blonde at the local shop .. and family and friends. Over this Christmas spend as much time as possible with the things you love (or should love) as you just don`t know when its gonna get taken away from you….
And remember what the great John and Paul said …
“ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE”
in remembrance of George Harrison. “
So there you go, a few lovely words from my son for Christmas, we miss him terribly, especially at this time of the year, Christmas has never been the same since he left us and it just brings the pain back to the forefront every year. But we live with it now, we have to, there is`nt any choice in the matter. The pic above was sent to me soon after James passed by Jsampson and I took the liberty of adding in the pic of James and his “dred” icon, click on it to see it larger if you should wish. I am eternally grateful to jsampson for this tribute… So everyone who may be reading, have a great Christmas celebration and may this time, indeed, all times, be filled with Peace and Love!
CeeQue 
I hear you my friend & know what you’re saying. There is always that empty void that no one or nothing can fill. Time heals but the scar remains.
Thank you Martha
Charles,
Your son’s writing is indeed profound for one who was so young. I hope you look to the future this year, and to what you still have in your life, find some joy. Thinking of you.
M
Thank You Martha, good tidings to you all this Christmas
Hi Charles…this time of year is a bad one for so many. Even in the best of times, it can be such a let down for people.
My thoughts and hugs to you, wishes for some peace and some comfort through the days.
Thanks so much Lorri, means a lot, its like theres a permanent hole here, but we will crack on!! Lots of love to you!
Yes, Charles…I understand…the permanent hole…of course there is.
Hugs and Love!
Dear Charles,
I dropped by your site, not because I knew
you had written this post, but because I wanted
to share with you that you and all who knew James
are in my prayers.
Ohhh my his words are amazing. After I read
the post, I scrolled back up the page and ran my
fingers across his picture.
I then went on my computer to find a message to
share with you….
xo xo
Deb ~ from across the pond…..
Midnight Mass Sermon
They come……. often uninvited but not wholly unwelcome…..
But they will surely come…..
As soon as the Christmas tree is lit this evening….
As soon as the Christmas dinner is served tomorrow….
As soon as the presents are unwrapped…. They will come….
Who are they? They are the ghosts of our Christmases past.
Not some scary spooks from out of a Steven King movie,
nor some dour figment of Charles Dickens imagination….
No…. these ghosts are neighbors, who have moved away,
grandchildren, too busy to come home,
childhood friends, long since lost touch with,
and all our beloved dead.
These ghosts come to us at the holy time, tinged with
sadness, but so much a part of our Christmas memories
we could not banish them if we would want to….
but who could wish something so dreadful!
Our memories, and the ghosts they conjure, are as much
a part of today’s celebration as the packages sitting under
the tree this very minute or as the lights that beautify our
church this very night.
They are a part of us and they are holy.!
They come back to us….. served up in special Christmas
recipes they hand down….. unique Christmas ornaments that
were theirs, and those special songs of the season that they
loved to sing. They are our special holiday friends.
Aunts smelling like lavender, Grandmother’s who baked the
best bread in the world, small friends who shared their newly arrived red wagons, and brothers and sisters who wrapped their Santa’s workshop gifts with all the love their small hands could muster.
They are our special holiday friends,
these ghosts of Christmas.
For you see…. they are part of our history, and our history
is holy. For if this Christmas celebration means anything at all, it means that when God became a part of our human story, our lives took on a part of the divine story.
The moments of our lives, each one of them, bears the mark of the divine life. And therefore, the people of our lives,
all of them, are holy images of God among us.
These ghosts who visit us, trimmed in evergreen and glowing in Christmas lights, these ghosts remind us that our story is a part of God’s story…. For God touched our lives on this holy night.
We need not fear them, these ghosts of love and laughter,
these ghosts of family and friendship……
We need not fear them, for they are our own history,
coming back to reminisce in this holy season.
Our history, made holy, by God becoming one of us.
And so, as I drive down the turnpike tomorrow to celebrate
with my family, they will come back to me,
the ghosts of my own Christmases.
My Grandfather fussing to make sure the house is spotless,
my Grandmother standing in her apron in front of the stove
cooking macaroni.
I hope yours visit you, and when they do, when those memories of people not with us this day come to reminisce,
remember, they are signs to us of how holy our history is….
Our own history that is made holy by God who took on
our history when he came to Earth this very night.
Greet those ghosts with love for they are signs of God’s love….
Greet them with love…. welcome them home…..
and Merry Christmas to you and to all who are with you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Father Patrick Ferraro
St Joan of Arc – Streetsboro Ohio
December 2003
This sermon was given at
my parent’s Church.
I thought it was so touching I had my Dad ask
Fr. Patrick for a copy to send to my son Vinny who was
serving in Iraq at that time.
Thanks so much for this kind comment Deb! I loved the sermon, it is indeed very touching and to me very moving! I hope you have a lovely and peace filled Christmas time and I wish you and your family all the Very Best for this time!
Hi Charles,
Just popping in to say G-day. What a beautiful piece of writing James wrote. You have every right to be proud of him. They are very touching words. I wish I could write as beautifully. Wishing you much peace over Chirstmas, Always know that you have beautiful memories to reunite you with James. Take care dear friend.
Jo xx
Thank You so much Jo, yes, my memories with my son are always there thats for sure, I will miss him this year as I do every year but I know he is ok now and in the Best of Company…
Hi Charles,
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful piece of writing that James wrote. He sounds much like me. I really appreciate you posting it here – I can only imagine how it must feel going over his old writings.
Huge hugs to you today and here’s to peace in our souls – today and every day.
Much love.
Thank You So Much Ruby! God Bless you and yours this Christmas, I hope you stay well thru` the season and in fact, ALL the time!
The pain you feel welling is a pain I think only a parent can truly appreciate or, more accurately, imagine. What can someone say? The only thing that comes to my mind is an idea that I believe to be so but – having been through loss too, understand that it’s hard to beleive sometimes – is this idea. It became a mantra of mine during a personal experience with leukemia three years ago. I hope it’s helpful to you. “The universe always puts us exactly where we need to be.”
…Sometimes the world, the universe, God, however you look at it, gives us hard things to deal with. They happen to people who can handle them. The challenge, of course, is to embrace the uncertainty that we cannot know in the immediate term exactly what the heck is happening or the bigger WHY?
I am realizing that while writing this I have plenty of my own WHY questions to still sort through as I think we all do. As each day passes and each bit of wisdom is collected, a tiny bit more of the pain that we’ve felt from our losses becomes a bit clearer, perhaps a bit less pain and a bit more wisdom.
Perhaps you’re collecting these lessons for a tiny person you’ve yet to meet, somewhere long down your road of wisdom. Perhaps one day you’ll encounter that person experiencing a particular challenge that you and you alone can impart that perfectly helpful wisdom because you and you alone went down your path.
Peace and gratitude to you for creating this opportunity to share. I am not an experienced poster to these spots. Just today, however, I’ve found two lovely sites and I’m grateful to you! I have committed my professional life to helping survivors of all sorts find the wisdom in their experience and these types of blogs are very, very helpful!
Thank You SO MUCH for stopping by and leaving this marvelous and so-true comment George. What you have written here I now firmly believe in, there is purpose in everything somewhere, we just need to find and understand it. Happy Christmas to you and yours and all my thanks and best wishes.
Keep it up! Peace! GPK