HOLLOW CHRISTMAS

What is Christmas? Most of us would say “birth of Christ”. But what does really Christmas means. Is it just a celebration? One out of ten people knows the answer. Christmas is a time where Jesus our messiah was born; it is also a time where we commemorate the loving Lord’s blessing by giving his only son to be with us. In this day we should be happy, celebrating it with our love ones, our family and our friends.

Let me share to you a story wherein we, are going to face this Christmas. The very first Christmas without our beloved Lolo.

Usually we start decorating our house with Christmas ornaments on the last week of November. My Lolo would just sit down and watch us decorating our house and setting the Christmas tree. A smile on his face is just what we need to ease the hard work were going thru. Sitting in his favorite chair he just stares at us and sometimes just ignores us and plays his cards. As Christmas goes nearer he would check the gifts under the tree if he has one. My mother often got irritated of him always checking if he has a gift in a pile of gift under the tree, but he will just ignore my mother and continue what he’s doing. The day before Christmas we always celebrate the noche Buena. My Lola always prepares a nice, hot chocolate. We have some bread on the table, some cooked ham, fruits and other dishes fit for Christmas. Before we eat we always pray to thank god for his blessings. While eating, I usually start to distribute the gifts. My Lolo will eagerly wait for his and sometime felt sad if he received few gifts. But even though, we still celebrate that night happily.

Memories like this are now will remain a memory. This Christmas, we will celebrate it without Lolo. We will celebrate it even without him but it will never be the same anymore. Celebrating it with Lolo is like having all the things you wish to have.

Now that Lolo is gone, we know that he’s happy even though he’s not with us to celebrate this Christmas.

Happy are those who can celebrate this Christmas with his/her whole family including his/her Lolo and Lola. Cherish every moment for you don’t know if the next Christmas will be the same. We don’t have the power to tell someone when we will die.

Every second needs to be cherished. Like us, we cherished every single day with our Lolo. Now that he’s gone we don’t have any regrets, we don’t feel a single guilt inside us for we know we did all to make our Lolo happy.