I went to a lovely AA meeting this morning. There was not an empty seat in the place - Imagine that! Christmas Eve and a room full of sober alcoholics at 6:30 a.m.! It is a wonderful thing. I shall spend the day getting ready for the big Christmas dinner I am making tonight for my family. Each year I try to be minimalist for this, but it never happens. I am so grateful for the huge roast of beef in my fridge, and the ability to make apple pie and pumpkin pie. The ice cream in the freezer. The broccoli! The salad! The cheese and crackers (and pepper jelly)! The Christmas candy. The way my kids go wacky over yorkshire pudding - which I will only make on Christmas Eve. The stockings hung by the chimney with care (and apparently St. Nicholas has already been here!) The Handel's Messiah CD which is playing now. Oh, memories of my childhood!
I have thought a lot this year about my childhood memories. I really had an atrocious childhood by any standards, except material. But I play Handel's Messiah, and I can practically hear my dad singing along. I spend time in the kitchen and I remember my mother's wonderful cooking, I can almost see her hands guiding mine. I put the big old fashioned colored lights on my Christmas tree and I remember the trees of the 50s and 60s and how beautiful they were and how magical they were to my childhood eyes. I will go to church either tonight or tomorrow morning and pray for my mother and my father, without resentment, without pain. I will just love them, and know that God does too.
What a wonderful freedom we are given in Alcoholics Anonymous.
Thank you to all of my friends, virtual and real. God Bless Us, Everyone!
4 comments:
MC,
Just had to say Merry Christmas so I don't forget tomorrow. Holidays are just that to me now: hol(y) days. You keep reminding me of my contact and that I am no longer alone. I am connected, full, joyous and free. Bill W. was right! May God richly bless you and your family every day. Thanks for being in my life as my star, my guide, and my friend.
MC, thanks for a wonderful message. Christmas is about love and loving. It's about giving. It's magic.
I am so glad to be a friend, both virtual and real!
I get to have Yorkshire pudding tonight too, with prime rib roast! Yummy!
How lucky are we?
We must have been to the same meeting!! Our 7:00 am was full to the rafters and it was wonderful. So many postives shares along with a few funny bah humbugs. I am so grateful to be a part of this. Have a Wonderful Christmas dinner with your family and I hope you get to carve the roast beast! xo
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