Christmas Past, Present and Future

Okay, so I knew this day would come. And I am trying so very hard to be mature and adult about it. But not having my baby girl home for the first time ever at Christmas is proving to be a much more emotionally charged life event than I had anticipated. It's not that I am upset that she has met a wonderful man who is taking her almost 3000 miles away to share his own family traditions. How could I find fault with that? I'm thrilled for her. But I am a hard-core traditionalist and messing with my traditions takes its toll. Believe me, all I have to do is take a good look in the mirror to see the unmistakable proof that time marches on. People leave us, whether temporarily or finally. It's just that my Christmases past were so magical and I have such wonderful memories of long-ago friends and family that are seared in my mind and heart. Those heart memories - my own feeble memory allowing - I will always have. But children grow up, parents die, babies are born and new friends enter in. Time, indeed, marches on. As much as I would like to freeze-frame a certain segment of past Decembers, I find solace and, yes, joy, in knowing that my girls are forming their own traditions in their own ways. They will take some of what we have instilled, and put their own spin on it. And our family circle widens, the ripples reaching far shores. Most important of all is the immutable fact that throughout all of this, the same Savior reigns. That doesn't change. And that is the good news that dries this mother's sad tears, transforming them to tears of pure gratitude.