As the holiday season comes into full swing there have been so many nostalgic moments and memories from my childhood that are slowly starting to change as I get older. This is by far the most difficult holiday season because of my Grammie not being here as well as so many other life changes that have shaped who I am. Both my mom and dad deciding to move from the houses I grew up in has really made me aware that life is changing at an exponential rate for me. I’ve always been the person to like change and when I have a goal I’m going to do everything in my mind to achieve it, so I give a lot of credit to people that just do the damn thing.
Since Grammie passed away it seems like everything went into action. The house in Pleasanton is going on the market and my mom’s side of the family is moving to SoCal in the summer. This was the first change that I was starting to adjust to and recently my dad decided to sell his house and has already moved to Pleasanton! Talk about moving quickly! I’m really excited for both of them and I’m excited to see how this experience shapes me a young man. I’ll now have to choose and split my time between the holidays and the families, whereas previously I could do it all in one trip. I don’t like to choose like this so it will be a difficult decision come next year. Life is all about dealing with the challenges that are being thrown at you and learning to grow and become a better human because of that.
As I was sitting at the Thanksgiving table last night I was the only one from my immediate family at my aunt and uncles since the rest of the fam is in Thailand. This was the first time ever that I had Thanksgiving without them and it was a type of maturing experience. As the younger generation is getting older so am I which means stepping up to the plate and setting good examples.
The biggest change of all is not having Grammie here. This year has been pretty terrible to say the least in regards to family members dying, but I’m always trying to take a negative experience to make it positive. It’s humbling to realize that we really need to care and hold on to the people that we care for the most in life since they can be gone before you know it.
We toasted to Grammie last night at Thanksgiving dinner and I almost started to cry. Not because I’m sad, but because we all have so much love for a woman that loved everyone else unconditionally. I strive to emulate that in my life and remember there is no force powerful than love. Not only did she love the people in her life, but she also loved Christmas.
With Thanksgiving now over and the Christmas decorations springing up around us I can’t help but to think of her. I know her spirit is always around us but during this season it’s even more apparent. I know it will be a difficult time as it gets closer to Christmas, but to come back to the theme of why I’m even writing this entry it’s all about how life moves fast. The only thing we can really do when we come across difficult situations is persevere and take is as a learning lesson. It’s not like one day you’ll say to yourself “Oh yeah! I’m healed! I’ve persevered!” It’s a process that can only be accomplished by recognizing how you’re reacting and making strides to better yourself as a person. I know Grammie would all want us to be merry this holiday season and share random acts of kindness with the people in our lives.
Grammie taught me a lot but if there’s anything I can take and truly implement in my life is to unconditionally love the people that mean the most to you in your life. And on that note, I hope everyone is feeling thankful and ready for a warm and cozy Christmas time!