When Christmas Has One Less Gift

Losing The Gift Of Family

Family, a blessing in most cases. When you have that one person you close with, Christmas is even better. From a young age we're taught Santa eats cookies, drinks milk, and gives presents to good girls and boys. However, children are never taught how to handle grief, bow to cope with loss, or realize that the person who passed is never coming back. Christmas is a checkpoint in most family's, where Grandma Gilda, and Uncle John come to see and visit their family. The one thing that makes Christmas a hard time for anyone is the tragedy of death.

At the age of 7 I learned what losing someone you cared a lot about felt like. I lost my great grandmother whom I was super close with. Most of my childhood up to that point was spent at her house, sleeping over, playing games and cooking.  My mom sat me down outside of Dairy Queen to tell me what happened. I asked her when she was coming back, not understanding the concept of death. It took around two years to understand what death meant. I'm 13 now and i cry every Christmas because she's not here. I pray to her all the time, even as someone who doesn't fully understand religion, I still believe she can hear me and she's with me. So every Christmas we put up her photo, and every Christmas eve and day i cry, for hours,wishing she was here.

As kids we're taught about Santa and the Easter Bunny, yet never told how to handle the hardest things life will throw at us, or how to cope with it. This leaves lasting pain, that can never truly be healed. I still miss her to this day, and wish there was some way i could see her again. However, I finally understand that won't happen. If only parents taught their kids that valuable part of life, the tragedy of death. It strikes even the youngest of people, from infancy to elderly, no matter what it hurts like hell.

Thanks for reading, this was a post i made to get things off my chest, have a great day!