There will be a lot of sadness and worry mixed in with our Christmas this year too, never the less I'm determined to put a smile on my face and enjoy the things I do have to be thankful for. I think it's really the only way to do it. I hope you find some magic this Christmas because everybody deserves that.

Jen, your determination to celebrate and find joy for your children seems like exactly what your mom would have wanted for you and your family. I hope you end up surprised with more joy than you expected for yourself, too.

p.s. Are you sure your lyrics aren't Milli Vanilli, and not Rob Base? I only ask because I once (ahem) bought that casette.

Had that CD too (ahem) and it was Blame It on the Rain ;)

oh that's Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock..... and THOSE are things that you have to think about - how your friends can make you laugh with one mention of a song. We have yet to have a traditional Christmas Jen without my mom and it's been ten years. This one will be the closest to it as my sisters and I will all be in Texas and at least food wise...we're sticking to the traditional. But my brother won't be there and my dad will be away. I hope you and Kath and your family have a great one...it'll be bittersweet - but enjoy and cry together when you need to...

Hopefully you will feel her presence with you and be comforted by it, by the love you shared and the pleasure of your children's delight.
My mom has been gone for a few years. She loved Christmas and was more kidlike than all the kids put together in ramping things up and wanting to open "just one present" on Xmas Eve.
My favourite memory of all is when both my kids were projectile vomiting across the festive Xmas dinner table and, some wonderful how, she and I roared with laughter right through the whole fiasco (what else can you do?) -- soothing sick sweethearts, cleaning up the mess, putting together another meal...

She's there inside you -- in all the memories you have and the traditions you will be sharing and passing along to the next generation. Wishing you that magic and joy!

I'm sending you love and magic for the Season, Jen. It will be different - and bittersweet at moments, of course - but it will be great. Enjoy yourselves as best you can. Miss her and think of her. Love each other. Merry Christmas, darling woman. xoxoxoxoxox

I know how you feel. My dad WAS Christmas for us, and the first holiday without him sucked, terribly. Last year was better and I think this Christmas will be great. What has helped me (and what I hope will help you, Katherine and Allyson too) is to think about all your mother was to you in this season and concentrate on being that for your children. The greatest legacy for your mom is for you to be just like her in all the wonderful ways you admire.

My dad was an incredible man. By anyone's standards. Most people talk about how wonderful their mom was, but in our family, it was our dad. His spirit lives on in all of us as we try to be as much like him as possible. Having known your mother personally and knowing so much about her daughters, I can see that will happen in your family as well!

Jen- how hard at such a memory filled time. I send you a big hug. My dad will not be here and I hate that. It feels incomplete and wrong.
I am so sorry for your huge loss. I bet she was so proud of you. xxn

Jen,

xoxoxo

You're right, your mom would want you to find joy again, and I know you will.

I'm so glad I got to be a little part of that last Christmas with all of you, it was special, and bittersweet.

Love you.

Erin

This Christmas our town has been hit with lots of tragedy and it's cast a dark shadow over the holidays. Thankfully, all of my family members are still alive and with us, and I know I'll hug them all a little tighter this year.
I hope you find the strength you need to make it through this Christmas, remembering your mom and moving forward at the same time. Hard stuff.

It will be 6 months tomorrow since I lost my Dad. I miss him.

You will probably never have a Christmas that is not bittersweet. I will say what some people don't really have the balls to say...IT SUCKS SO HARD THAT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR MOM. It is tragic. She seemed, from what I have heard, like she was a wonderful person, mom, friend. Enjoy the time you have with your sister and her family and your dad and your kids. HUGS, Jen.

Jen, what I will never forget about your Mom is the ease at which she seemed to carry-off the holidays. Always with a smile & a laugh. Never stressed. I hope that I can be just a tiny bit like her this Christmas, with everyone here at our house.

Oh ya, & fondue. No one rocked fondue like your Mom. We have carried on her tradition & taken it to all of the different places we have lived throughout the US. And I will say that everyone has raved about it. We'll be cheers-ing to you over our fondue on Christmas Eve.

Lots of love to you all.

Jen,
I suffered through the first Christmas without my mom six years ago, then hated it so much we went to the beach the second year. I've had to face the music since and it will be seven years tomorrow since she died. I find the holidays that much harder because her funeral was on Christmas Eve. If ever there was a time to be Grinchy, well I had dibs. As I watched my kids though, I knew it was time to pull up my Christmas stockings and get with it. It is hard because it has to be, or it wasn't love.

And, as I've mentioned to you before, for some reason my fourth child was born on December 21st-- the day I remembered as her death day became my kid's birthday. So tonight I am blowing up balloons to celebrate, but it isn't all that much easier. Like so many moms have commented here, that loss, that hole, it never truly gets filled. It is hard because it has to be. It was love. And you miss her. You miss her love in the present, rather than as a memory of love.

Enjoy the time with your sister and Dad. You deserve joy and more.