Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Has Christmas snuck up on anyone else?

Yeah, my mom died on Christmas Eve after a long debilitating illness though long ago. We're religious so she was ready and we were ready but it does change things. Does get better over time, you learn to take joy in loved ones around you and the reflections of those with you in spirit rather than dwelling on past holidays. The more effort you can put into this and the more you can support people so situated the better. Thinking of her, and now Dad, this Christmas makes me smile and ever more appreciative of our time together, much more than the empty feeling that lingers.

Thanks guys, it does mean a lot. Dad is 87 and has had a lot of health problems himself, luckily he lives just 3/4 mile away and my brother is closer, so we're able to keep watch over him. We live in a small farming community and there's been no lack of Church support, from the Mennonites to Baptists and we're Methodists.
The family will gather at Dad's tonight for our traditional family Christmas, the Great-Grandkids are all too young to understand and I'm sure the energy and noise will fray some nerves, but it will be good to have the bunch together again.

To the OP, sorry for the hijack of your thread.

The way it oughta be. And a Christmas story in itself.

As for Christmas, it used to sneak up on me. Nowadays we have all the shopping done by Oct. usually. It helps that we don't buy presents for each other or our siblings. And we're down to just 2 kids.