Merry Christmas Eve Peggy.
I miss you today.
I miss your laughter, your excitement, your smile.
I miss knowing you remember what Christmas means.
I miss sharing with you.
I miss so many things that made you...You.
I miss you this Christmas of 2006 but I am thankful for all the Christmas' that we shared as sisters.
This is just another day for you but for me...
It is the Christmas memories of our lifetime as sisters.
Merry Christmas, Peggy!
I Love You Today!
Mary Louise
I was shopping for Christmas gifts the other day at our local mall.
I watched the people's faces as they hurried past me as I walked past the many stores that were decorated for Christmas.
I was feeling blue and needed to see a smile directed toward me. I needed a smile to help me through the sad feelings.
I did not see a single smile because everyone, including me, was absorbed in our own lives, our own rush to buy gifts and our own sadness of the season.
I made my way to the food court, found a table and sat to watch people as they hurried past my table.
There was no laughter that I could hear. The mall music was softly playing Christmas carols in the background.
Everything was decorated and ready for Christmas except...
The people in the mall and......
Me.
I was searching for my Christmas spirit and my shopping trip to the mall made it very clear to me the the spirit that I was searching for that day was not to be found in...
The mall, the music that was playing or the decorations of the season.
The spirit that I am searching for this year cannot be bought, wrapped and given to me.
My Christmas spirit must be earned and given away to come back to me. I can't change what is going on, on the outside...but I can find what I am looking for on the inside.
My spirit this season can only be found inside of me.
I went back to the mall to try an experiment.
I didn't look at the faces of the people who passed me hoping that they would give me the smile that I needed from them.
Instead, I gave my smile to their faces.
I bought a gift in a store and as I turned to leave the store, I said Happy Holidays to the sales person and she smiled back at me.
I helped a lady pick up her coat from the floor and she smiled and thanked me. I said, Happy Holidays and she said, thank you and smiled back at me.
What I learned in a few hours in the mall was.....
You cannot wait for other people to give you the spirit of the season.
You have to give of yourself and when you do, the smiles will come from the faces of strangers and warm your heart. Giving of yourself brings the spirit of the season back home where it belongs.
If you are searching for the spirit of the season this year...You will find it when you give your spirit away.
It's amazing how the smiles come back home when you open the door of your heart and welcome others inside.
Peggy, I miss you this Christmas season.
I miss your smile this year but I did see your smile in so many faces at the mall when I took the time to give my smile away.
I learned that I could not find the joy of this season until I was willing to give my Christmas Spirit away and expect nothing in return
Mary Louise A work in progress
Always remember to forget the things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember the things that made you glad.
( Elbert Hubbard )
I have been shopping for Christmas and searching for the perfect gifts for those I love.
I walked through the stores at the mall and looked at all the wonderful gifts that I could buy. I took my time because these will be special gifts that will be opened on Christmas morning.
While shopping, I thought about a store that I wish existed in our mall.
It would be called "The Memory Place Store".
I could go in this shop and buy my gifts to give to Peggy for Christmas.
I could stroll down the isles of the Memory Place Store and buy all of her memories back, wrap them in pretty christmas paper and give them to her this Christmas morning.
On Christmas morning, under her Christmas tree, there would be colorful boxes, decorated with bows and glitter and signed, Love, Mary Louise.
She could open the boxes one at a time and each would contain a group of her forgotten memories.
One box would have all the stories of her childhood.
Just by opening the box, her childhood memories would flood back into her brain as she sipped the coffee that she loved.
Next, she could open the gift box containing all of the memories of her teen years.
She would carefully take them from the box and drape them around her neck and in a flash, all of those memories would be hers again on this special Christmas day.
Then, she would open the next three boxes.
Those boxes would have the memories of her 20's, 30's and 40's wrapped in white tissue paper.
She would open the boxes one at a time and have all of those memories drift back into her mind while sitting in the light of her shining, twinkling Christmas tree.
The next gift box would contain the memories of her husband, her marriage and of her children.
What joy would shine from her face as she looked at them lying in the box and she could remember all of the times they spent together.
She would throw the contents of the box into the air and let the memories rain down on her and bask in the glow of their love and remember each of them once again.
The last gift box would hold the memories of our parents, her sisters and her brother.
She would smile and hold the box to her heart and remember the love that we all share. She could take each memory out and hold it in her hands. She could throw the memories around like balls, bouncing them from the floor to the ceilings while laughing.
Her eyes would be shining and brimming with tears because she could remember her life and the love that was shared at Christmas time and the rest of the year.
On this special Christmas morning...The morning of miracles, Peggy could have a miracle for one day.
For this one special Christmas Day, Peggy would get 7 beautiful boxes. Each box containing the gift of the remembering her life.
She would open all of "The Memory Place Store" gifts that were carefully wrapped in beautiful paper and colorful bows.
She could unwrap her past and present and remember.
She would have one day to remember what it is like to love and be loved.
Peggy would know on Christmas day morning that even though her life is disappearing...
My love for her will never disappear! We gave one another the gift of our love for many Christmases.
Just because she cannot remember.... doesn't mean that I will forget!
Life may end, times spent together may end but ....
Love remembered at Christmas and through the year will never end!!
Merry Christmas, Peggy!
I Love You Today!
Mary Louise
Margaret Mead said:
Often... sisters become each other's chosen and most happy companions.
In addition to their shared memories of childhood and of their relationship to each others children, they share the memories of the same home, the same homemaking style, and the same small prejudices about housekeeping the carry the echoes of their mother's voice.
Dear Peggy,
I am sad that you have forgotten that I was your treasured companion.
I am sad that you have forgotten the shared memories of our childhood.
I am sad that you have forgotten your children and mine.
I am sad that you have forgotten the memories of our home at 1805 St. Charles Court.
I am sad that you have forgotten how mother decorated for Christmas and her famous Thanksgiving dinner.
I am sad that you have forgotten mother's voice saying...don't open an umbrella in the house, go out the same door that you came in, don't be a boys proving ground, always remember your Colley pride, blood is thicker than water, always call and come home and many other sayings.
I am sad that you have forgotten mothers voice and mine as well.
But Peggy....
I am glad that you had those things for a precious, few years.
You might have forgotten in your mind but I know that those memories will remain in your soul for....
They will always remain in mine!
I Love You Today, Peggy!
Merry Christmas 2006.
Mary Louise
