The next two weeks will be filled with plenty of moments to choose from.
Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years are time capsules for our memories.
Each holiday captures a moment in time that adds to a blur from of our past. Eras in our timelines that can be special or sad. Moments that can trigger thoughts of happiness and unfortunately, thoughts of grief and pain as well.
These holidays captured moments from our youth through adolescence and into adulthood.
The moments are caught in time and then time decays the specifics and turns them into general relativity.
In time you forget what year you went to Gramma’s house, but you know it was when you were about six or seven.
You forget what year it was when you showed up at Midnight Mass shitfaced and don’t remember getting communion because all you thought about was taking a piss…
…you were about twenty-three.
The one thing we usually don’t know, are the holidays when it’s the last one.
The last Hanukkah when Uncle Schlomo was still around telling family stories. The last Christmas when your mom gave you a Christmas gift. The last New Year when you stayed up with your older brother drinking scotch and watching Dick Clark. The last time Grampa slowly read from Luke just before Christmas dinner.
All the moments of the holidays become memories soon after they happen. We were so busy realizing how anticlimactic the last month had been that we don’t see how quickly it vanished.
I know several of you Chalkheads are experiencing the first holiday season without your mommy or daddy.
I know a couple of you that are newlyweds or new parents. Some of you will be lonely and some of you will sit at a table with a dozen people.
Happiness and sadness determine how these moments become memories. Do your best to store them properly for future use.
Remember yesterday when I said that your calls and text messages were winning lottery tickets?
I’m there if you need someone these next couple weeks. I have prayers and dirty jokes to share.
Big Brother Bob…
…thanks for calling yesterday and leaving your annual Christmas Carol message. Those mean a shit ton to me.
This is another example of a happy Christmas moment that will someday blur together as a memory.
A memory that was immediately glorious and a memory that will be dreadful when they no longer occur.
I have a voice message from 2015 from my Oldman wishing me a Merry Christmas. He tells me that he is proud of me and at the end he says, “I Love You.”
I listen to it often.
I called him back the next day. I can’t call him back the next day anymore.
Cherish the moment Chalkheads.
Cherish the moment.
