Christmas!

 On this Christmas day, filling a void & missing my family dearly. 

Christmas wasn’t the same as it is here,there was no wish list,no gifts to exchange,no Santa clause, no cold dreary winters but just happy times with family, a feast of food that we won’t see again until Easter,new set of clothing to go to church for the midnight mass, with may be a new pair of shoes. 

My mom, grandma & aunt would be in the kitchen from 5 AM cooking the many items that they would put on the table by noon, us children having nothing to do would be just singing some Christmas carols swinging on our front porch, munching on some of the delicacies being prepared in the kitchen that morning or would watch TV if we were lucky enough to have electricity on that day. 

By noon, we would gather around the table, men with the beer in their hands. We were just thrilled to have all the meat such as chicken, pork & even fish, all at the same time. Later, would gather as a community, take part in all kinds of sports events (in which I terribly sucked), topped by cultural activities that us kids had put together without any adult supervision or involvement. Such fun! No pictures of the same to go back to, no videos, only good memories embedded in our minds.

 And now, there is so much food but still don’t know what to eat or cook, closet is full of clothes, yet I am standing here trying to figure out what to wear. 

In our household, Christmas is just another day, no excitement, with husband being at work, children & I are at home, bored. 

The tree is up but no gifts to exchange as there is really nothing they need or want. 

Have a dire need to talk to family but we now live night & day apart, literally, with the time difference, it’s hard to call when you want to call.

 There is so much of everything yet there is nothing & am feeling that void ….missing my family and hence rambling!!