But then Christmas, ah Christmas...wonderful on so many levels. When you've checked you're mailbox three times a day for four months, being home is off the charts! All of the food and hugs and warmth. I hope Colleen and I can provide something close to that when our kids come home.
Five great questions of life: Life * Love * Learning * Labor * Leadership
Home for the Holidays?
Leaving home, for me, meant leaving the country.My parents moved away from Kenora a couple of months before I finished high school, so I stayed with our friends, the Cullums, until high school grad. Our graduation ceremony was at the Kenora Recreation Center, near the shores of Lake of the Woods. Then I left the next morning for my parents' place in Ninette, Manitoba.
Three months later, Sheri (big sis) and I hugged the fam and headed for college in Minneapolis. We always made it back for Christmas and summer, but that was about it. Thanksgiving was one of those holidays where we had to make do down south. Home was just too far away for such a quick trip. Of course, it was a bit more complicated since Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving are in different months.
I think Sheri and I had low key apartment-style celebrations once or twice. We were taken in by friends here and there. I guess we were always outgoing and connected enough to never really be alone.
Megan moved out last November, so this is actually our second season of having a child come home for the holidays. And we're blessed to have my parents and Col's parents such a close part of our lives, so the whole multi-generational thing happens as well. My forty-plus sentimentality kicks into overdrive.
We put the Christmas tree up today. Family tradition. It's not everything, but it sure is something.
Any other holiday-away-from-home memories? Happy Thanksgiving all!
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