Light

Upon the recent death & burial of my mother many memories float into my thoughts lately.

For some reason I have been vividly remembering my 11th Christmas .My first big life-change and loss I guess.

My parents put our house on the market in upstate New York and drove to Florida in the summer of 1971. The non-air-conditioned car was packed with mom ,dad ,me ,my brother ,my grandmother & our collie, who got carsick often. But my brother went off to college across the country.

Because our house in New York had not sold when dad bought a house in Florida ,plus paid for the moving van expenses to drive down here—

Money was tight. I was the only one out of four children who went to public schools and state university instead of Catholic schools.

So a lonely Christmas came around that year —in a new home in a new state and a new school where there weren’t many children or young people in retirement land in 1971—

And Christmas was never Again the big flood of toys & mountain of gifts under the tree.

That winter, When My parents asked what I wanted for Christmas, for some reason 11-year old me replied that I wanted my own Bible.

That Bible, plus a lamp for my study desk to do homework, were all I received for Christmas that year.

A Lifetime has gone by now. Many many gift- giving occasions happened over all these years. I married. We raised two daughters who had a childhood full of shiny sparkling presents, gorgeous wrapping and gifts. I’ve received my share of lovely gifts as well.

But do you know what one gift I still remember and still have till this day? The Bible from 1971—which proved to be A true lamp for my path and light to my eyes.