The boys put up the Christmas tree and decorations in the living room on Tuesday when we had an ice day off school. We used to decorate several rooms of the house, now we just decorate the living room because it is the only room we are ever in more than five minutes. It looks so pretty.
Today I put the stockings out. My mother made us all stockings a long time ago. Raymond and I got ours the first year we were married, and she made each of the boys one for their first Christmas. The stockings for the boys match. Mine has eyelet at the top with a green ribbon and bells. Raymond's has a tie (and is in storage). Mom never got around to making one for dad and her, so theirs were different from ours, but their stockings were always up next to ours since they spent every Christmas with us once the boys were born.
It seems so weird to be down to just three stockings. We had six in 1997. Then dad passed away in 1998 and it was five stockings that year. Raymond died in 2006 and we were down to four stockings that Christmas. Mom died this year so now we have three lone stockings. I have two on one side of the fireplace and one on the other.
The boys are now 15 and 18, and I have been thinking a lot lately about how I will be all alone in just a couple of years. The three stockings are a reminder for me to savor each second I have with the boys as they will soon have families of their own, and I will just be an extension of their life.
Three stockings on the fireplace make me sad, but not nearly as sad as I will be when there is just one.
1 comment:
But you could still keep stockings for the boys up along with yours even after they move on to start their own families ... and then you can ADD grandbaby stockings to your mantel (Ok, so I hope it's still quite a few years of waiting for those..I mean, I love spoiling babies, but we want the young men to take care of other endeavors right now). You can always add stockings for your favorite adopted College Kid and her Sister :)
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