A Christmas to remember

Its’ funny how thoughts of Christmas’ past crept into my psyche this past week, especially given that for the most part I’ve been living away from my immediate family for more than three decades.  Strange – why now I thought to myself as I kept catching myself.  I guess living in another country will do that to you, but to be honest all I can remember about my last Christmas at home with my parents and siblings was my mum…it was the year before she died.

I still remember my dad calling me (unheard of btw) to tell me (yes, not ask) that I needed to be home for Christmas – it was 1986 and I was living in Darwin.  So not exactly a short nor an inexpensive trip home, but he made it clear that it would be our last Christmas together.

Me and my siblings (TW, Gary, Glenda,
Laurie (back), James and Dad) out front of our
house - Clunes 1986

No time to waste, so I booked a ticket home but given the late timing of my attempted booking I was out of luck.  I had the “planes, trains and automobiles” adventure to get home.   Firstly the flight from Darwin to Alice Springs was two hours then with another two-hour layover, and then the Alice Springs to Adelaide leg was another two hours.  From Adelaide there were no flights so I had to catch a bus to the city, find the bus station and then catch the bus to Melbourne (9 hours).  Once in Melbourne I then had to catch a train from Melbourne to Ballarat (2 hours).   With layovers and commuting between airports, bus stations and trains it was the best part of two days.

All of us made it home that final Christmas, mum wasn’t in good shape and although physically with us she was not entirely with us if you know what I mean.  The writing clearly was on the wall, she had to rest most of the time but was slipping fast.  It was evident in her every movement - from the look in her eyes, to her slow gait around the house that it was just a matter of time.   I know deep down she was thankful for us all to be there, but it was plainly evident that she also knew this to be her last Christmas with us.  

It was incredibly sad, but none of us talked about that, we all brushed it aside (as you do) and focused on the positives and a fun time. We tried to make it as much fun as possible from the loud and raucous lunch with the crazy Christmas bon-bon hats to the annual game of cricket on the front lawn after lunch…

Our last Christmas together - mum, dad and me
at the far end of the table - (Clunes 1986)

At first I wasn’t sure why these old and long forgotten memories and feelings raised themselves this past week, and it was all I could do to keep pushing them aside as they were ever present on the edge of my mind.   Any momentary lapse or relax and there they were again pushing themselves forward...painfully annoying I can tell you!

The more I thought about it the more I realized why now?   Its because its going to be the first ‘Christmas’ in fifteen years where I won’t be with or in my family unit per see.   

I’m getting use to the “new normal” and this year I have the kids the first week of the school break with my ex having them the second.

This year the kids and I are going to create a whole new family tradition, and although we’ve always celebrated Hanukkah for the kids (which we collectively will continue to do) its nothing like creating a new tradition or two…just to give them something to look back on with their kids and laugh.

Dad’s (yeah, that would be me) crazy and wacky idea of a fun family activity is a road-trip...to Florida!   Not just somewhere close, but all the way to Florida – are you kidding me?

Now to be fair to Zach and Sami they are good sports about it, and are somewhat excited (okay excited might be a bit of a stretch, but lets leave it at “a bit keen”) about a seven-day road trip to Florida with their dad.   We’ll either love it (which I’m guessing) or vow never to mention “the road trip” again…  :-)

So to make it a interesting I said to Zach & Sami that we need to find activities and cities for us to explore on our journey down south.  We’re not in a rush and plan to take it slow and explore as we go.   As you know from our previous blogs the kids travel well and with the satellite radio tunes being mixed by a new DJ every hour or two it should make for a fun and festive journey.

I can hear you all now…what the hell is he thinking…seven days in a car with two teenagers – is he completely nuts??

Our tickets for the Ohio State vs. Kansas State basketball
game at Ohio State University - Columbus OH
Dec 22, 2012

We’ve already got two big activities planned – the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton (Ohio), as well I got us tickets for an NCAA College Basketball game in Columbus (Ohio) -

Ohio State University vs. Kansas – ranked currently 4^th and 10^th respectively in the nation.  Okay the game was almost completely sold out but I was able to procure us three tickets in the nosebleeds…fun!   I’m thinking that the atmosphere will be electric given the quality of the teams and sold out stadium.

Other than those two planned activities we have nothing but an open road and time on our hands – and really, what could be better?