Memories of a burlap Christmas

Since it is the holiday season, I feel compelled to write about various things from my Christmas memories.

One thing that I keep thinking about is Pam's Christmas burlap. What in the heck am I talking about, you ask? Well, read on...

Sometime when my older sister, Pam, was little, (not sure of her exact age and neither were my parents) she had a school project where she cross-stitched a Christmas scene onto a piece of burlap cloth. She brought her masterpiece home from school and presented to my parents, and they proudly displayed it underneath the Christmas tree.

It is a tradition at my parent's house that every year we have a tree trimming party. All of the family gets together and decorates the tree. We always pulled Pam's little burlap picture out of storage and implemented it into our decorating. And, every year we always laughed and poked fun at Pam over it. Someone (usually me) would always say, "don't forget the burlap!" We would all snicker and look at Pam, and she would blush and say "shut up!" This continued on through my whole childhood and even into my adult years. It was one of those never ending inside family jokes.

After Pam passed away from Leukemia, we continued on with our Christmas tradition. Mom placed the little burlap picture inside of a picture frame and we sit it beneath the Christmas tree. Nowadays I look down at Pam's picture and can't help but feel sad, but I can't help but laugh as my mind goes racing back to all of the times I kidded her about it. She always acted like it embarrassed her but I think that deep down inside she loved it as much as I did. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without it.

So enjoy the Christmas season with those that you love. You never know when the day might come that they may not be around. Live, laugh, and love life to the fullest...Pam sure did!