Day 145: 12/28 Team #JuCan #CobbFamCan is recovering from a very full and fun Christmas!!! We have walked over 1,300 miles and our feet and legs needed a little break. As Papa (Jonathans dad) likes to say every year without fail, There will never be another Christmas quite like this one. He was also famous for saying as we gathered around in a circle for prayer and testimonies of Gods goodness at Thanksgiving, Take a look around. Some of us may not be here next year. Papa spoke from years of experience and much wisdom. It was true then and it is true today. Unfortunately, that reality has hit us blindsided in 2013. We lost Mom and Ju within 5 months of one another. I think 2014 has been a bigger reality of JUST EXACTLY what has happened more so than last year. There is something about trauma that tends to take awhile to set in. Those of you who have suffered PTSD can relate to that statement well. Whiplash is another condition that sets in AFTER the initial impact. We are, in a sense, experiencing whiplash. Missing mom and Julia has seemed more intense lately. Christmas was both of their favorite holidays and Ju was a giver, just like MaD. They enjoyed buying for others and then seeing the joy on the faces of the recipient. Certain things are hard: setting the table because NO ONE could compete with moms decorating skills; wrapping gifts and adorning then with beautiful ribbons like mom because the joy of giving was also in the packaging; making favorite family dishes like Mac n cheese and sweet potatoes because Ju always joined me in the kitchen to cook the southern dishes that MaD had taught me to make. I am so extremely proud of the kids who tend to focus on the good times. But, for the first time in quite awhile, Jonathan paused in Toys R Us at the Skylanders. He pointed out a cool new character, but then dropped his head and said he really wasnt into them anymore. He said the last Christmas we had with Ju she had bought him a special one with her own money. (I remember the trip to Walmart like it was yesterday). She and he would play for hours, especially in the ensuing months when she was too painful to walk and couldnt navigate the stairs up to his or her room to play. I imagine these thoughts occupy their sweet little heads that have been forced to grow up so fast. They dont focus on the sadness and stay there long. We recount Jus feisty ways and laugh about the trouble she would start. Our kids were fortunate to receive Secret Santa gifts that were shipped to us. We also were able to do some shopping for them on the sly. It definitely took some creativity to wrap them in a tiny hotel room and hide them in a closet so they could magically appear from Santa! We enjoyed painting ornaments for the tree, decorating dollar store stockings, making homemade crafts as gifts for Jennas old school BFF, decorating a gingerbread princess castle and a Mickey Mouse House, decorating a tree, making and decorating homemade cookies and visiting Santa. Jenna was sure that we saw the REAL Santa this year at Bass Pro Shop because he was exceptionally nice, had a real beard AND let out the biggest HO HO HO we have ever heard! Even I was convinced with all sincerity!!! Christmas Eve, we attended church, the kids made reindeer food, wrote Santa letters and put out cookies and milk. We had a hard time convincing Jenna that Santa would still turn around and come even though the Santa tracker said he had already been here! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at an old friends house Christmas Eve and apparently we were late to bed. Alas, after reading Twas the Night Before Christmas off the iPhone (thanks to technology), the kids went to sleep-phew!!! Christmas morning brought magic and glee! We Facetimed family and opened gifts. The kids played with their toys and we managed to cook a hotel meal of homemade lasagna and banana pudding (the vanilla wafers were in honor of Ju). It was a glorious Christmas, one better than we had expected. And we went to sleep reflecting on the day and declaring, There will never be another Christmas quite like this one.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 21:33:13 +0000
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