It's been 31 years since I've had a Christmas with my sister Nonie and it's the second Christmas without my mother. It never really gets easier.
Christmas was always a big deal when I was growing up. Of course, for children, that goes without saying.
The photo above is the first Christmas I remember celebrating in Los Angeles after my parents divorced. I know there must have been a couple more, but from the looks of this photo, I must have been about five. None of us look terribly happy in this picture. I don't remember exactly what was happening or who was taking the picture when this photo was shot, still, it makes sense that we might not have been that happy. It takes awhile, maybe forever, for children to get over a divorce. Nonetheless, my mother always did her very best to celebrate life and every special occasion.
Because of my mother's own family traditions, we always opened our gifts on Christmas eve, after a midnight candlelight service. Maybe that's it, maybe we were just tired from staying up so late when the photo was taken. L.O.L.
No matter how little money my mother had, the tree was always beautifully decorated, the house always smelled wonderful (she was a terrific cook), and there were always toys and gifts under the tree. She never failed to surprise us. We ate our dinner by candlelight, listened to the Christmas music that permeated our home and we savoured every moment. I am amazed when I think about how she must have made that all happen by herself, in a foreign country, with her family of origin so far away.
My sister Nonie and I were close sisters, but more that that, we were best friends. We relyed on each other and that never changed as we got older. In some ways, I felt like I had two mothers.
Nonie was always very protective of me and, of course, she liked to boss me around too, and she could do it. I worshipped her. I remember one Christmas all she wanted was a football. She beg-ged Mom. I'm sure my mother thought that football was not a sport for a young lady. However much Mom thought that football was for boys, there was a football waiting for Nonie under the tree.
I know my Nonie must have pulled some strings in heaven so that I would live next to my eldest daughter, because living next to each other was always Nonie's and my personal dream. We wanted to have our babies together and live next to each other. She did live right in the next apartment from me for awhile but never got to have babies of her own. She always loved my girls and treasured her time with them, as if they were her own. When she passed away I thought God would probably put her to work in baby heaven, because she loved babies so much.
I know both my mother and my sister are watching over me and I will see them again in the hereafter, but I miss them like crazy!
2 comments:
As sweet as that picture is and as sweet as this story is, it was also hard to read in that it made me very teary. I can understand how this does not get easier because every year you are probably thinking how it would be if Nonie were here again. I can still remember her laugh. I can still picture her. You two were inseparable.
I miss them too! The way they brought the party with them everytime they came to visit was an inspiration to me!
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