December 18th, Advent Day 22
The love of a mother who cared so much – that she even made a way for the Holy Family to find a place that was warm and dry.
In November of every year, my mother would decorate the house, from top to bottom, in anticipation of Christmas. Mom refused to buy into the practice of waiting through Advent to deck the halls. She loved everything about the Christmas season and found numerous ways to extend it. She would often leave her tree and decorations up until February – and then plan a party, which she called the “first Christmas party of the newly coming season.” There were wreaths in every room, garland on every railing and fireplace, ornaments of all kinds on the massive (real) tree in the front room. Stockings were always hung by the chimney with care. She always decorated a small tree for each of us girls to have in our rooms. And then there were our favorite Christmas treats always on hand – candy cane cookies, seasoned oyster crackers and gumdrop bars.
One thing my mother always also did, was place those plastic candles on every windowsill of the house. On Christmas Eve we were allowed to leave the lights on our trees and in our windows on – all night! Every year I asked my mom, why we kept the lights going on that specific night. She always responded “that’s so the Holy Family can find their way here in the dark. So they won’t have to ask for a room at the Inn this year.”
My mom’s childhood Christmases were not so merry. Growing up in the Depression with parents who both worked outside the home, there was not money or time to do much more than fill a small stocking. I know Mom got a lot of pleasure from her many holiday efforts, but at the heart of them, was a desire to give her family a memory to cherish. This was just one other way she found to “look after” us – as essential to her as cooking, cleaning, and doing our laundry.
Her looking after us in this way instilled in me a deep sense of the magic and mystery of Christmas – and the special time of anticipation that is Advent. This year, my mom will have been gone to her eternal reward for twenty-one years. It’s been way too long since I tasted my mom’s baking or delighted in her decorations – and some of those memories have faded. But one thing that remains clear and strong is the sweetness of my mother’s love. The love of a mother who cared so much – that she even made a way for the Holy Family to find a place that was warm and dry. My mom was never one to quote the Bible or offer a Sunday school lesson. But in her many ways of looking after me, she taught me volumes about the unconditional and whimsical love of God.