I'm Dreaming of a Lonely Christmas Just Like the One We Had Last Year
But we’re okay with being alone, and I’ll tell you why. By Richard Armstrong
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
First, here is the back story. Fran married me 51 years ago, and we’ve enjoyed wedded bliss ever since the ‘I Do’s.’ But, of course, there’s more to our story. When her husband fled the wedded scene, Fran had three children under nine years old. I had one daughter to hold onto when my first wife decided other men were better than me. Fran and I had a son two years into our marriage. Do you get the picture?
So, we have five children. We’re a happy family then, and we’re still delighted with our children to this day.
But, this Christmas will be another lonely one for us. We’ll be home in our little house to celebrate our Savior’s birth. And that’s okay. Why is this okay with us? Give them wings and let them fly When I married Fran, I emotionally adopted her three children, and Fran took my daughter in as one of her own. Of course, our son born to us was our biological offspring. Our son joined the other children making our family one cohesive unit. We bonded together with our love for each other.
We had the usually late teenager cry, “When I’m old enough, I’m leaving!” Our response was, “Sure, you can leave when you’re old enough; that’s what we are training you to be able to do.”
We trained our children to make it in the adult work-a-day world. And, they have. Leave the past in the past, but hold the memories close We celebrated the holidays with turkey, gravy, and all the trimmings for years. At times, there were 23 or more of family around our table, Christmas tree all lighted up with piles of gifts for the children under the tree. We laughed, we sang, we read the Christmas story from the book of Luke. We played games past midnight. Oh, what fun we had. That was then, but this is now. Now, we’re old, retired, and happy Most of our adult children have children of their own, and some have grandchildren. Three of our children have moved far away. We told them when they were young that they could live wherever they wanted to live. It’s a big country, move somewhere if you like. And they did. Yet, none of our children have deserted us We know they love and care about us. Each adult child’s phone calls, visits, and text messages always warm our hearts. We are one happy couple.
Our children have given us a great ride of love, we know they love us and we love them.
Love doesn’t make the world go ‘round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Franklin P. Jones, an American journalist.
Training our children is what we see as our job as parents. Teaching them was essential to us. Our goal for each child through their adolescence and teen years was to become mature adults.
We remember the year we stayed home with our children at ChristmasFor the first few years of our marriage, we always had Christmas dinner at my wife’s parents on the farm. But, a time came to be alone with our children in our own house. Now, the time has arrived again for us. Yes, this Christmas, we will be alone in our little house by the side of the road, but happy knowing our children are the mature adults we trained them to be. We gave our children the wings to fly and they did. For that, we are grateful. Isn’t this what you want for your adult children? Merry Christmas.