Losing A Piece of My Childhood...

  Now that the Little Bayou House is devoid of all house guests, I decided it was as good of a time as any to sort through all of the Christmas decorations.  Although the things have all been down since two days after the holiday, they still were piled in huge mounds in the kiddos' play room.  With no grandlittles running about the place, it seemed to be an out of the way place to stash the junk...err...decorations until I had time to sort through them.  The packing and storing would be delayed a bit longer as I needed that sorting to be done.  While I am discarding a good many things, the sorting is more of a search for things.  On Christmas Eve, all of the antique stockings were hung on the mantel with care but, when time came to replace the vintage socks back in their nice box, care was thrown out the window.  Or perhaps a few of the stockings were tossed out that proverbial window.  When I finally gathered the stockings, three were missing.  THREE!  Three of the stockings had somehow become misplaced.  I searched the house to no avail and finally resorted to going through the bags of wrapping paper and boxes that were designated as trash. These had been stowed in the shed until we could haul them to the roadside. Thank goodness! Yay!  I found one wadded up with some old paper in a garbage bag.  Now, there were just two missing.  Thinking the trash was all sorted, I returned to the house only to hear Son tell me that he had already taken six bags of the trash to the road....the day after Christmas! Oh, no.  I had a sinking feeling that my stockings had already made their way to the dump.

  Today's search was no help.  Nary an antique stocking was to be found packed in with the decorations.  I know most folks will shrug their shoulders and say that the things were old anyway but that is not how I feel.  These were part of my childhood.  Of the two that are still missing, one was an extra one and the other just happened to be my very own stocking as a child.  It is gone and another piece...another memory cannot be replaced.  I was so happy to have the stockings as most everything from my childhood had burned in the fire that ravaged our first home here on the Bayou.  When Mom handed me the stocking, it was not merely a piece of cloth, it was a tie to my memories of long ago.  At least, I still have my brothers' stockings as they asked if I would keep them all together.  "It is like it used to be." they both said. "It is like when we were all together as a family. Hang the stockings for us."  Now...little sister has no stocking.  It makes me sad.  It also makes me sad that no one really cares.....                

Christmas Eve...

The World is all aflutter..excitement springs from every corner..it is Christmas Eve. As we all know, it is time for singing carols, wrapping presents, decorating the home and a lot of family togetherness. Here on the Bayou tonight, it is different. It is quiet...too quiet. Even though the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, Santa won't fill them. He has no plans to visit the Little Bayou House tonight. His sleigh will bypass the Bayou and head on to other houses..houses with little children. The stocking will just hang there limp and empty..just another decoration. There will not be the story-telling of Christmas tales tonight nor the pitter-patter of footsteps hurrying toward the Christmas Tree come morning time. I will not have to clear out the mountain of torn wrapping paper after the gifts have been opened. There will be no giggles, no oohs and ahhs at the sparkly Christmas lights and no plate of cookies left out for Santa. None of this will happen this year. For me, Christmas is over for the year. That was last week..not tonight and tomorrow. (We celebrated early since no one could be here for the actual day.) The kids have all grown and lead busy lives now so Christmas this year will be quite unlike any before. Quiet...far too quiet. Santa won't come to the Little Bayou House this year.



I was wandering through the Little Bayou House looking at all of the decorations and lights. It seemed so huge and vacant. The childhood memories were there..just not the children. A certain forlornness started looming around me. Christmas was just not right this year. I was getting sadder by the minute..I felt abandoned...alone. After moseying for seemingly a lifetime, I came across a simple little nightlight. It sat on a chest all by itself and yet it shone brightly. I stood there looking at the little light and pondered..why does that little light look so bright? It is sitting there all alone just like I am, yet it is giving off the most beautiful, cheery glow. It looked happy. The little light was a gift from my daughter. The light bulb itself is housed in a wooden box and the front is a stained glass version of the Holy Family. It is really a pretty thing and emits the warmest glow into the room. I stared at that nightlight for a length of time and the sadness began to leave. The image of the tiny babe stood out from the rest of the picture. "The Reason for the Season"..I had heard this countless times before and knew that it referred to the Christ Child but for some reason it was different this time. The Reason for the Season.. Then it hit me...I am not alone. The whole "Reason for the Season" is with me at all times. I did not need to have everyone here for a certain day..I had them in my heart forever. I had the True Meaning of Christmas around me at all times. There will be other Christmases when the family will be together! This is not the end of an era in this family..it is the start of a new one! I understood this now. It just took a trinket..a nightlight..to show me the Light.



From the Little Bayou House, I wish you the merriest of Christmases. I hope that all of your wishes come true and that joy and peace will alight upon you and yours. Merry Christmas, Dear Friends...Merry Christmas!