Mistletoe-d
Written a few years ago, repeated, for those who need a hug of hope today.
Enjoy.
♥
This is our thirteenth Christmas, Dad acknowledged, as we pulled into the cemetery.
Yep, I sighed, to no one in particular
& there, in the back seat, sat Big Bro, stoic, soldier-like, poker faced, Big Bro. Unsealing that barrier between himself and grief on SPECIAL OCCASIONS ONLY, when he simply cannot dam those tears and just lets them spill. And as the three of us walked to her grave, my oldest sibling stood firm, looking every which way, but the very spot his mother laid.
So Dad and I did what we always do. We left Mr Humphy to wander randomly, as we took part in our annual Decorating Mom thing, sprucing up her nameplate, placing the tiny manger
and the big candy canes
in their spots, both lost in our own Lorraine thoughts. And as we turned to leave, my always present feelings and say it over and over words took control of my voice as, once again, I declared
she’s ♥ HERE ♥
And right, smack dab on cue, Brother piped in with his UH-UH. What are you talking about ?!!? forever response as oooooh, Ma, I whispered, please sprinkle your boy some yuletide sunshine.
We made our way back to Dad’s with trimming his tree on our Sunday minds, ’cause for a guy who’s pretty darn good at all things Christmas, this man I call father absolutely dislikes the process of ornamenting. Since I volunteered to take over that somewhat tedious chore, it was time to get busy.
Bro planted himself in his rocker, determined to watch football (and me) as he had no intentions of helping, so off I proceeded, opening boxes and enjoying my time in Adornment Land with Mom and her organizational skills.
After only a few minutes, though, this usually keeps to himself soul started reminiscing like I’ve never seen before, bringing up stories of Winters’ past when we would do this or Ma would do that, giggling like a schoolkid, yappin’ like he’d sipped a few too many eggnog-s. Crafts and fun and rememberrememberremember-ing. But it was the ONE thing Brother D couldn’t recall that sticks in my brain this day.
Try as he might he just could not think of what the stuff was called. It hangs, she would put it up every year, why don’t we do that anymore ?? But THIS time, it was Dad imploring, WHAT are you talking about ?!!?
Mistletoe
& when we finally discovered what Bro meant, we all smiled.
Yeah. Mistletoe.
Long story short, after some good eats at our favorite diner, I was dropped off at my house, happily content with a day well spent, and this morning ?? Well this morning, that mother of mine added a delightful finishing touch to her sprinkles of merry. You see, I too have mistletoe, mistletoe that has been placed in the same walkway, year after year after one million years. Held tightly by tape, this seasonal greenery stays put and never, EVER budges until I take it down.
Until today
!! poof !! her timing was impeccably perfect as I came THISCLOSE to one hand catching it. And just to make sure I understood her point, a penny (My Favorite Penny)
in a busy mall parking lot, found by a distracted me, who just happened to glance down
& YaY.
I hear you. I see you. I feel you and I KNOW you are here, Mom.
How can I be so sure ??!?
Your firstborn told me so.
xoxo
♥