Saramma’s Christmas

Saramma was turning the pages of an old photo album. It was the Christmas Eve. She felt very lonely. She had called her son Alex last week, who had told her that he was too busy with work to visit her this Christmas. Her daughter Maria had planned a vacation abroad with her husband and children. So this Christmas, Saramma would be all alone. She missed her husband Thomas terribly. He had passed away 2 years back. He had been her partner in all the joys and sorrows of life, but he had embarked on a new journey leaving her behind all alone.

She remembered the days when Alex was a little boy, he would always be clinging to her, and would start crying if he didn’t see her for 10 minutes. Now he didn’t have time to visit her even on Christmas. She remembered the old days, when Christmas was celebrated with the whole family. All her brothers and sisters would come to her house, their ancestral property, and stay there for one full week.

The preparations would start months in advance, with brewing of wine, baking Christmas cakes… The whole house would be decorated with lights and stars. The children would make beautiful decorations with bright coloured papers and hang it on the Christmas tree. They would make a small barn and put statues of Baby Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph.

On Christmas Eve, all of them went to the Church for the midnight Mass. On Christmas day, they would have a big feast, with cake and wine… They would have small gifts for all the children. The house was filled with joy and warmth. Now nobody came to visit her. Some of her siblings had passed away, others were too old and found it difficult to visit her. Their children were too busy , and sometimes they gave a phone call to wish merry Christmas.

Now there were no cakes or wine, no feast. No lights. No decorations. Just a lone star hung outside as if signifying the lone soul in the house. A tear trickled down Saramma’s face. She wondered if she would see the next Christmas or not. Anyway what was the point in celebrating Christmas if there was nobody to celebrate it with you?

Then suddenly the door bell rang. She went to the door and opened it: “Surprise, Ammachi! Merry Christmas!” Her children Alex and Maria were standing outside with their families. “We wanted to give you a surprise!” Saramma hugged her children. “This is the best Christmas gift I could have!” she told them.

So Saramma had a beautiful Christmas with her loved ones.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones, too 🌲 ⛄ 🎅 And let this be a small reminder to make this day special for someone (remembering Sushree Diya Ji’s post) 😍☺️