OT:

Yes, some things take quite a bit of time to feel normal again. Hopefully you are also thankful for all the good memories of your mom.

My dad passed away shortly before Xmas 11 years ago. Xmas has never been the same since.

My brother inlaw passed away 15 years ago and I always miss him on holidays. He made them tolerable for me at family gatherings. Every year the 2 of us would exchange bottles of Chivas with each other on Xmas day. I still raise my glass of Chivas to him every Xmas day. He was a vw fanatic and had been for most of his life. That's where my 67 bug came from.

Ah, memories. Good and bad.

Randy

Last night we looked through some of the photos of relatives, both current and past to remember them by telling stories about them. I have been trying to contact all of the relatives to pull the family back together.

Yes be thankful for all things/people in your life especially the good ones! Pull your mom's photos out and remember all of the times! ;-)

lots of those good memories....

I understand that... Mom passed on dec. 21 last year.... we carried on with "Christmas"(her *favorite* time of the year) for the kids... She loved her grandkids(four of them age 5 and under when she passed) and we had to do it for them.. but it wasn't very Merry for the adults..

Your brother in law sounds like he was a good man... Hopefully, somehow, he made you a little better too... It always sucks to lose the "good" ones...

cherish them all... good and bad...

Thanks Randy!

Carry on your mom's Xmas traditions for a few years, then start and develop your own. It will help.

Yep, brother inlaw was a good one and he did help me change my life a bit. We were both in our 40's and acted like little kids when around each other. My mother inlaw would try and sit us at opposite ends of the dinner table in hopes we would behave. It just made it worse. He once passed passed me the dinner rolls by throwing them at me. Clear across the dinner table. There were a good

10 people around that table. I'm surprised we didn't get sent to our rooms. That was either thanksgiving or Xmas dinner.

Randy

hahaha.... with age comes the *right* to be a kid!!!... sounds like you two had fun, thanks for sharing...

Bill, my condolences. Nice to see you still around... Sorry your mom had to suffer a battle with Leukemia, I'm torn over whether going suddenly and unexpectedly(relatively) as my dear mother did, or watching them lose a fight is worse. I'm leaning toward the loss of the battle being worse, because it takes an emotional toll on the entire family... again, Bill, sorry for your loss...

Tough time to lose anyone. My Mom passed away on the 5th of November after a short battle with nasolarynx cancer (smoking will kill you). She had driven herself back and forth to chemo and radiation treatments till a week before she died. I don't think I'd like to do the long drawn out battle thing. Andy

Andy, my condolences to you also...

My condolences to all that have lost a loved one! Always remember those fun times together and look at their photos from time to time!

sincerely, One out of many daves