Slivers of My Soul

So this Christmas my daughter hosted at her house.

Let me say that again!

So this Christmas MY DAUGHTER hosted at her house! Not only do I officially feel super old, but I’m SUPER proud!!!

let’s get the pandemic stuff out the way, because I know, we are in the middle of the biggest crises we’ll probably ever see in our generation, and many to come. We were super cautious. Everyone had been tested, and we’re all essential workers anyway, so, we haven’t been able to quarantine during this thing at all!!! We spend everyday with other people’s family as part of our jobs, so we spent Christmas with ours.

Back to it…

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As I walked into her cute little 2 bedroom apartment that she shares with her beau of 5 and a half years, I was so proud of her. First thing I noticed was her BEAUTIFUL Christmas tree! This was her first one, and it wasn’t too much, nor too little. It was kinda like her, like she’s always been. Simple, plain, yet standing out based on her light that shines so brightly when you encounter her. I’ve been working, enjoying my own new place and hanging out with my own beau so much lately that it had been a while since I’d been over. She has it decorated so nice and warm and cozy. I couldn’t help but sit down and look around in awe of this little girl I raised and how much of a WOMAN she’s become.

She’d cooked, and BOY did she cook. I am not a cook, so I wonder where she gets it from. I laugh every time I say that because I sometimes feel like we were born backwards. She’s more the mom than I am. it’s funny, yet true. I don’t have to worry about when she does finally bless me with grandkids, because they’ll be well fed and taken care of. She’d made a ham, turkey, collards, potato salad, Mac and cheese, green bean casserole, yams, and corn bread muffins. My “son-in-law” (which I call him), did help with the dinner, he’s a great cook himself. And everything was yummy. Watching her tell everyone where everything was, in her little kitchen… MAN, I am one proud momma I tell ya. For Christmas she brought me a “record player” (not sure if they’re still called that), and a Diana Ross and The Supremes album. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I brought her her first pandora bracelet, and of course had to get the Mother/daughter charm. She is my BEST friend after all. She was beyond ecstatic. And she deserves it and so much more. On top of the fact that she introduced my honey and I. She said my picker is broken, so she picked her own step dad. Two peas in a pod would be an understatement to describe them (more to come on that later)….FUNNY!!!

All 3 of my sons (31, 30 and 27 years old) were there, 2 of them with their mates, and as we all sat around and ate and exchanged gifts and did our thing of telling stories of when they were kids, and some of the things we’d been through that made them who they are today. I fought back tears of gratitude. These are pieces of ME!! little slivers of my soul.

My oldest son JD is the father to all 3 of my grand babies, the other kids think he’s my fave, and I have to remind them that I’ve just known him longer, so we have a different type of bond(lol lol). He’s the deep part of my soul, as well as the part of me I call the “wanderer”. Kinda hard to keep his attention for long. He likes the new and different, he never gives up, and understands life in a way that most don’t! He and my “daughter-in-law” brought me a patio set for my apartment for Christmas, and though it came about a week earlier, I pretended to open their gift right there, and my son and I shared a good laugh. He always acts like the dad when we all get together, and his nerves are bad to boot. So getting a good laugh from him is ALWAYS guaranteed!!

My 2nd Son Jerome brought along his girlfriend. This was my first time “officially” meeting her. They’d known one another for about 5 years now, but just became an item. I’d met her once before, but only as a friend. This child is the one who’s SUPER considerate of others, a gentlemen in EVERY sense of the way. He ADORES his momma, sister, and grandmothers. He takes great care of the women in life. So I’m glad, although I always knew he’d be precise in picking who he chose to call his “woman”, and bring around his family. He’s my other half spiritually. He’s always had a calling on him that I can’t put into words. Anyone who’s ever encountered this one walks away feeling love, warmth, understanding, friendship, and BLESSED!!!! He’s the empathetic part of my soul. He brought his momma a pandora necklace, and a record player as well because he and my daughter didn’t know the other was getting me one. They all knew it was on my Christmas list. I like the girl he chose, and made sure to get her a gift although I was winging it, since I don’t know her. And I think she was happier than anyone else with hers. Maybe it was being thought of although it was her first family event with us.

My youngest son Aaron drove home from school to hang out with us and I miss him whenever he’s gone. He’s determined to finish school though he has battled an illness that causes him to sit out some semesters and when he does, he’ll be the first in my family to do so. Me and this young man have our ups and downs like no other. He’s more like me in every way than any of the other kids. He encompasses all that they do when it comes to slivers of my soul and THEN some. We like the same tv shows, movies, music. He’s a VERY deep thinker, and can understand some of my more off the wall conspiracy theories. We were the closes when he was a baby, through most of his toddler years. He’s the one that was thoroughly planned out as far as pregancy. He’s my rainbow baby born after a miscarriage. And boy did his dad and I treat him delicate as a baby, and he was the roughest of the kids. He’s the only one who’s broken bones, had stitches etc. He was the daredevil of the crew, and people find that hard to believe being that he’s my most laid back gentle kid now. He brought his momma some headphones to go with her microphone for podcasting.

There we all sat, in my daughter’s home, around the Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, eating, drinking, being merry… me in the middle of this little tribe that shares my bloodline, that I brought through to this earth, lavished with gifts of love, memories, joy, BLESSED even in the middle of all that is going on outside. Being able to breathe a sigh of relief of gratefulness even if just for a moment, with the people who love me!

The slivers of my soul will continue to live on through my grands and great grands and so on! And if I died tomorrow, knowing that my DNA is blessed in such a way, is enough for me to understand that my life was not in vain.

This by far was the BEST Christmas I’ve had since I was a kid!

I wish you all a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON! May this next year see an end to this corona virus, and we are all blessed with perfect health, wealth, love and an abundance of joy!!

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