This is a different Christmas for me, unlike any that came before it.
My grandson was born in June and this is his first Christmas.
He’s the apple of my daughter’s eye, as we used to say, along with his father.
It reminds me of her first Christmas, more than 30 years ago, in that rented north-Barrie home. The presents stretched from our real tree through the living room and out into the hall, two or three deep. They were all the Christmas colours, every shape and size imaginable.
And almost all of them were for her, a six-month-old who was undoubtedly wondering what all the fuss was about on that snowy day.
She spent much of Christmas playing with an empty shoe box, as I recall.
Only days later did she discover all of her gifts from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends.
She didn’t have teeth yet, so she couldn’t even eat the turkey dinner.
It would be another three years before her brother arrived to steal the attention away from her, as he came into this world less than a month before that Christmas.
My six-month-old grandson delivers a little of that Christmas magic this year.
This will also be a different Christmas because my mother is gone, having passed away a month ago.
Shirley Ruth Hendry, as she was born in Kingston, lived to more than 96 years and left us quietly in hospital.
I have no doubt she didn’t depart until good and ready, having a stubborn streak I’m familiar with.
Her health had been good until a few years ago, then the slow, gradual decline of age wore her down.
But that’s not what I will remember about her, especially at Christmas.
A family of six children growing up in a little northern Ontario town presents its own challenges, but no one was left behind in our household on Christmas Day.
Mom not only made sure we all received good presents, including from Santa Claus, but that the turkey dinner was a spectacular feast, which left my brother and I too stuffed to move afterwards — or do the dishes!
When I had children of my own, Mom would always send us a $200 cheque to make sure we had a tree and the kids got good presents Christmas morning. Some years, it made the difference between a good Christmas and a (literally) poor one.
Later in life, she never wanted presents for herself, only our company, especially the kids.
So it won’t be the same without Mom at Christmas this year. But she wouldn’t have wanted us to be sad about her passing, just to enjoy time with family.
Christmas, like anything and anyone else, cannot escape the years rolling by and bringing inevitable change. I’m going to feel it a little more this holiday.
While I will miss Mom, I will enjoy my grandson and all the fun that comes with little ones at Christmas.
I remember being one, and I remember my children as ones, and the fun, family and excitement we all felt Dec. 25.
It’s still there.
Bob Bruton covers city council as a staff reporter for BarrieToday. He wishes you a merry Christmas.
