Christmases past bring back memories

I've been looking at old Christmas photos this month and thinking so much about my parents. That is the beauty and magic of photographs. Nothing dies as long as you can look back and remember. While I didn't write about life back then (yep, ignored my mother's journal idea) I'm thankful for the opportunity to look back through the photos.

My mother was always grumpy on Christmas day. It wasn't until I began hosting family at my house that I got a better idea of why she was so irritable. This Thanksgiving really made it all hit home for me. I have never been as tired as I was at the end of that meal which we worked on from 10:00 to 5:00 and which was eaten in twenty minutes. Clean up took another three hours and suddenly I was telling my mother I got it. Getting up in the morning, readying a turkey that needed to go into the oven while kids begged to open presents, doing that while worrying about setting tables and getting a dinner on the table for a slew of people? I see you now Connie.

In many of the pictures I found my mom was in shorts. She was always running around in shorts on Christmas while the rest of us were bundled up in sweaters, sweats, and blankets, and we were always rolling our eyes at her sweating and hotness. Now that I'm having hot flashes constantly? Yep, makes me realize I had no idea. Boy, do I get it now.

Every time a camera was pointed at my dad he would smile and pose. He loved photography. But in looking back through these pictures it really him me that my dad was just a happy go lucky guy. He saw joy in most everything around him. I'm going to try and channel that this year.

If it weren't for my dad with his various cameras we wouldn't have all these memories. He loved taking pictures even though the rest of us grumbled about his directions in having us smile or look up or pose. Thank god he ignored us all and kept on shooting. One of the best presents was giving him a camcorder. My mother did a great job putting that together. We gave it to him early so he could study it and be ready to shoot on Christmas day. It was such a joy for all of us to give him that gift. I remembered it quite vividly.

We made fun of my dad when he wrote on his prints. He lectured me a hundred times about writing the dates and the people's names on photographs. I should have listened. I have too many Christmas pictures, especially pics of our Christmas trees, without dates. I spent WAY too much time trying to chronologically put them in order.

I'm thankful for the funny things, the traditions, and the silliness that we shared all those years too. Both parents made sure Christmas was fun for the kids. Our Christmas mornings were the best even when we were sick. Both Rusty and I have spent time remembering certain things like an orange in the toe of our stockings and our various hunts for Christmas trees. I hope too that I have done the same for my kids.