Hard Candy Christmas

I believe that family is the most important thing in the world. My family means everything to me. That is why a few years ago when I got a phone call at work from my youngest son James, who lives in Louisiana I was glad and relieved to hear from him. Of all my five children he is the one that calls me almost every other day just to chat. I knew something must be wrong since I had not heard from him in several days.

"Mom", he said, "we won't be able to come home for Thanksgiving. I'm going to have to work this year and with the way the economy is going I can't afford not to."

My heart sank. I had been anticipating his visit since September. Visions of hugging my son and grandson at least a dozen times a day lingered in the corners of my mind. My arms felt empty. I told my son I understood and would be thinking of them.

Then my son gave me a wonderful gift. We began to reminisce about Thanksgivings and Christmases of the past. "Mom, do you remember that Christmas we spent in Lufkin, Texas?" he asked.

Yes, I did remember it. It was one of the most broke Christmases we had ever had. It was in 1988, James was 16 years old. The bottom had dropped out of the construction business but my husband had found work out of town. I was not working, either, so we went with him to Lufkin. It was record bitterly cold and we had very little money. We didn't have any extra money to buy Christmas presents. We rented a cabin at a run down motor lodge on the edge of town. My husband's brother, also his work partner, and his family of three children rented a ratty trailer across town. The town had a paper mill and most days the smell like raw sewage hung heavy in the air. It wasn't a pretty place and we weren't in a pretty place in our lives. I was so down because we were so broke.

Then my son said something that surprised me. "Mom, that was the best Christmas I ever remember." How could he have such a different memory than I did of that Christmas?

"Mom, don't you remember..., I went into the woods behind the cabin and cut a small pine tree and we decorated it with strips of paper, pine cones, and hard candy. It was beautiful." he said.

Then the memories did begin to flow. "Yes, James I remember we only had $30 to buy Christmas dinner for all nine of us. I was afraid it would not be enough but it did feed us."

"Mom, you bought me a blue sweater and dad gave me $20 to fix the brakes on my truck. I don't know how you got the money to do that but it was some of the best gifts I've ever gotten."

"Yes, James, it was a hard candy Christmas but we were together as a family", I said.

As I hung up the phone I didn't feel so bad anymore that my son would not be home for Thanksgiving. The love that my family shares is still growing strong. I know that whether we are together or apart by many miles we will always be one in our hearts.

I hope that all of you will have a Happy Thanksgiving.