Christmas in the Family

It was almost Christmas, a time for holy nights of blue and white lights and Santa Claus coming to town. It was always her favorite time of year… But it’s only fair to start when things are supposed to start.

It was Christmas Eve a long time ago. Mommy had been pregnant with the baby coming in January, a three-year-old big brother bouncing around the house, and an angry Daddy. She was going to wait until after Christmas to get ready for the baby, she just needed to get through one thing at a time.

A small Christmas Eve dinner and early to bed didn’t want to keep Santa away with wide-awake eyes. The little boy laid down in bed, still and quiet, trying to be asleep so Christmas morning could hurry up and come. Down the hall, Mommy and Daddy worked on gifts.

Just after bedtime, Mommy said it was time. A neighbor watched the little boy, he was finally asleep, while Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital. The little baby girl was born just before midnight, their own little gift from God. Mommy called her Eve.

A long time later, a little before Christmas, Mommy and Eve had a big fight. They loved each other, but they didn’t get along well. Mommy told Eve to go out. Mommy didn’t mean forever, but Eve thought she did. So Eve went away.

One, two, three, four, five, six years after Eve went away, just a little before Christmas Mommy got a present early. Some policemen came to Mommy’s door. They gave her The Most Beautiful Thing in the world and a book. Mommy read it, even though it was for me, but that’s okay, I’m a good sharer.

Mommy says the book is about Eve, that she wrote down all the stories about where she went and what she did when she left. What made her happy and what made her sad. Mommy says there are lots of letters in it I can read when I’m bigger. She cried at the end.

When I ask Mommy what The Most Beautiful Thing is, she gets a sad smile on her face and says she’ll tell me when I’m older. Everything is when I’m older and she put the book on a shelf with some dried up flowers that I can’t touch.

It was almost Christmas, a time for holy nights of blue and white lights and Santa Claus coming to town. It is always my favorite time of year because my birthday is just one, two, three, four days before Christmas. Mommy said Christmas runs in the family and that’s why she called me Holly Eve.