Memories of Christmas - Part Two

Had a notice on Christmas Eve that my latest adventure, A Cowboy's Love, is live.

Hope your Christmas was magical?  I know I expect ours to be.  I'm putting this up ahead of time because,with everyone in the house, privacy is not an option.  This is a short little follow-up to last week's story.  Hope you enjoy.

We just experienced the best Christmas ever.  Everyone was here, we all got along, no sibling rivalry, no hurt feelings, just plain fun.  Maybe it was because it was the last one in our home.  By next year, another family will be living here, making their own memories.

A couple of memorable things happened.  Our eldest son dressed in Barry’s old Santa suit and enacted the role.  Once it was dark and the children down for the night, he knew his eldest was not entirely asleep yet.  He went outside and made noise knowing his son would come to the window. The little one was sure Santa wasn't real but still wanted to believe the fantasy.  Seeing Santa made him a believer for another year at least.  On Christmas morning, he was wide-eyed with wonder as he told his sister and his cousins all about seeing Santa.  The best part was the deer came to feed, sometime during the night and all the reindeer food was gone from the front yard and deer tracks everywhere.

Another thing was watching and listening to each of our children’s special memory of Christmas in our house. There were so many remember when's we lost track. We played a game in which everyone chose a tree ornament and at Christmas dinner had to tell why it was special to them.  It was fun listening to the stories, especially the youngest ones.  The tears and laughter rang heartily when Barry shared the story of the flying turkey, or the time I almost burned down the house by burning dried out pine boughs in the fireplace,  and my husband hefting that large video camera on his shoulder, so it was all caught on tape.  Now, everyone’s phones captured the moments.

When everyone left they took their special ornament with them with promises to return in a day or two to help us de-Christmas the house and get it ready for sale.  Barry and I sat in the room and gazed around and held tight to each other while we thought about what we had created.  

I happened to look down at the tree and spotted a package, hidden at the back of the tree, that hadn’t been opened.

“Oh look, Barry, we forgot a present.”

“Oh no, why don’t you see whose it is.”

I got up, went over and picked it up.  The box wasn’t very heavy, or big but it was beautifully wrapped, and the card had my name in big bold letters.

“It’s for me,” I told him.

“Well, open it.”

“But who is it from, it doesn’t say.”

“Maybe, there’s a card inside,” Barry answered, with not a telltale clue on his face.

As I carefully unwrapped the present, tears started falling as I spied what it was.  There, in my lap, was a leather-covered book with gold lettering titled “Lessons Learned.”  Inside were all the essays he had me write through the years.  The last page was an essay, written by him, explaining why he loved me so and how important I was to him and our family.

Once the sobs subsided, he attempted to carry me upstairs, but I’m not as feather-light as I once was and I could see the strain on his face.

“Put me down, darling.  Save your strength for when we get to the bedroom.”

He laughed.  "That's one of the many reasons I love you so." He slapped my fanny and we climbed the stairs together.

"And that's one of the reasons I love you." I told him as I gave him my special wink.

See you later for more Aimless Ramblings.