My step dad Ken really enjoyed the holidays. He loved to over indulge in friends, gifts, food, and drink. The Christmas tree was always tall and bushy. The gifts were overwhelming. And as us five kids grew up and reproduced so did the amount of gifts. Ken was unusual in so many ways. He loved to wrap each gift with extreme care and uniqueness. It took a month of steady daily wrapping to accomplish the tasks. When Christmas arrived we had to take turns and open each gift one at a time, but only after we paused to admire the wrapping. He would beam back a smile with delight. Within a matter of hours all his labor was undone into piles of ripped paper that was shoved into trash bags and destined for the recycling can.
Last Christmas was the first without my step dad. My mom needed help to try and make it special. By the time the day arrived I was depressed and exhausted. This year we decided to head to Arizona to spend Christmas with Curtis' family. The last Christmas we spent in Arizona was just before Curtis' mom passed away a few years ago. So Christmas will be different from the past years no matter what - significant loved ones are missing. But we are really looking forward to this week and starting some new traditions.
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