31. When I was a teenager, my mom and I lived in SoCal while the rest of our family lived in Oregon. My mom had me flown up to spend Christmas Eve with her sister and Christmas Day with my dad. My mom wanted to come badly but she has a huge fear of flying.
I get to my aunts house on Christmas Eve and we’re doing our typical chit chat, hang out, snack and drink coffee while dinner is getting prepared. After checking on dinner, I come back from the kitchen to see my mom sitting on my aunt’s couch. I was stunned. Stopped dead in my tracks. Jaw on the floor. I was so happy. Christmas is her favorite holiday and we’d never spent one apart. She faced her fear of flying to spend Christmas Eve with us.
I’ll never forget that Christmas. She passed away a couple years later on December 22nd. It’s a wonderful memory to have of the holidays when this time of year can be kind of depressing.
