13/12/2024
EARLIER THIS WEEK I was driving my sister to the hospital to see her husband, who has been there since mid September, with a very serious illness. They have been together nearly 50 years, and since the kids grew up and left home, they have carved out their own special world. In the past weeks, there have been many ups and downs, and her life has become long days of spending time with him, squeezing in all the necessary errands before she goes, and often staying well into the evening. My husband and I started driving her from our house to cut down on the parking costs, which can be astronomical. Out of the blue she said, “It sure doesn’t feel like Christmas.” I had to agree – it definitely doesn’t, and this one is going to be different.
In addition, six weeks ago, our 96 year old step mom had a serious fall, and after major surgery to her ankle, and some additional health complications, also remains in the hospital. Of course she was sent to a different hospital – initially a hefty drive –an hour from where my brother-in-law is, but in a happy turn of events, she ended up at a hospital closer to family, greatly reducing the distance between the two hospitals. She will not be returning home until she completes rehabilitation, which is going to take a while. Her children are several hours away, and it has been 15 years since we lost dad. She has been part of our family for nearly 50 years, so of course our family is going to do all we can to love and support her on this journey. Life at the moment is largely, being lived between hospitals, drives, and visits, and no-one knows what the future holds, but we always hang on to hope.
After dropping my sister off that day, I headed to hospital number two to see my step mom, when a song lyric got my attention – “The only gift I’ll ever need is the joy of family…that’s Christmas to me.” I started thinking about the many wonderful holidays and happy times our family has had, as my memories started slipping down my cheeks. I thought about my sister’s kids and all they are doing and the love they are extending to support their parents – it’s going to be different for them too, as well as their kids. But what I realized as I heard those words is, that it is the love of family that is going to carry the day, no matter how the story unfolds, or what’s down the road. I felt comforted by those words, and very fortunate.
How ever you define your family, keep them close, and lean on each other when needed. The greatest gift in life, and not only at Christmas, are the people we take the journey with and who stick by us in good times and bad. They’re what make life worth celebrating.
