Christmas this year just wasn’t the same. To begin with, it was my first one apart from my family (which I must admit to missing a bit more than I anticipated) and on top of it, I felt like I was run over by a Mack truck being sick with malaria and all. So as an ode to Christmas and my loved ones, here’s a list of a few of the things that I missed this holiday season (in no particular order).
I missed…
1. My mom playing Dino’s renditions of all the Christmas classics on the piano only to have my dad walk in the door and comment on the mysterious, melodious sound of ‘o holy night’ but to complain about her lack of rhythm— his poor drummer ears!
2. Attending Christmas Eve service and singing Silent Night while holding a candle and burning myself with the hot wax.
3. Rachel running around the house waking us all up so she can open the few little gifts in her stocking (even though each year its always the same—socks, underwear, a toothbrush).
4. Making breakfast on Christmas morning and screaming at the top of my lungs for my brothers to get their lazy butts out of bed—for a second time.
5. Eating ham and pineapple and bread stuffing and green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. Oh, and my mom’s pumpkin Playing scategories or outburst or scrabble—even if I don’t necessarily feel like it but because I know how much it means to Rachel that I do.
6. Watching the Macy’s Day parade and all those ridiculous balloons and marching bands (even if I’d claim to all that I hated it)
7. cheesecake roll.
8. The smell of the pine needles that invades your senses as you walk into a room with a beautifully decorated evergreen tree.
9. The cold. December is one of Uganda’s hottest months- its not Christmas without a chill. I miss taking a deep breath of the crisp winter air and having it fill my lungs—what an exquisite reminder that we’re alive!
10. The comfort and familiarity of home and holiday traditions—the smiles, the laughter, the arguments and throwing of food—yes, all of it! The dysfunctions are what made Christmas fun and memorable—this is what I miss the most. Life is messy and miraculous all at the same time.
