What Do the Holidays Mean to You?

Hi guys. Jason here. As you probably know if you’ve read a couple posts about my grandfather and grandmother, family is one of the most important things in my life, if not THE most important thing. To make a long story short, my grandmother on dad’s side passed away in March 2005 from leukemia, although it had gone into remission, and my grandfather on mom’s side of the family was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about three or four years ago (maybe longer) and is progressively getting worse.

The last couple years, as I’ve had to sit and just watch my grandfather get worse, knowing I can’t do anything to take away his pain and suffering, I’ve had a lot of time to think about all the wonderful times I’ve had with him and my grandmother, God rest her soul. I don’t want these memories to ever end, especially the memories we have made around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know my grandfather probably doesn’t have too many Thanksgivings and Christmases left on Earth with his family, and I want to make them as special as I can for him, even if all I do is go over to his house for Thanksgiving or Christmas and sit beside his recliner and talk to him, to take his mind off Alzheimer’s for a while.

I really wish my grandmother was still here so I could tell her how much I love her and how much she means to me. Some of the best times I ever had at her house were sitting around the dinner table at Thanksgiving or Christmas or sitting in the big family room, when she and my grandfather (dad’s dad) lived in Georgia, around the big white Christmas tree opening gifts, laughing and talking with all my aunts, uncles and cousins…. can you imagine trying to fit 30 or 35 people in a room with a big sofa, chairs and a tree that reaches all the way to the ceiling. It was almost like trying to fit one more smelly fish into a sardine can.

This is where you come in. What is your favorite holiday to celebrate with your family? Do you have special traditions you celebrate during the holidays? Has a parent, grandparent or child passed away and given special meaning to celebrating to the holidays since their death? Has a parent or grandparent been diagnosed with a horrible disease, and do you want to make their last holidays with your family ones they will never forget? Are there special memories that you’ve had with your family that you’d like to share? In short, what do the holidays mean to you?

After watching a video by Joanne Cipressi thanking her Twitter followers for adding special meaning to her life, I thought I’d try something really different for this post, and that is asking you to submit a video discussing the questions above. I thought perhaps if others saw the emotion you felt as you were talking, it may make the posts that much more special and really hit home how important family is to you. You can make the videos as long as you want and can even have other members of your family talk about what the holidays mean to them. Bottom line I want to stress is to have fun with the videos and to be creative in making them.

If you want to submit a video, you can email them to jcbourne@comcast.net. I’d love to post them all during the holidays, from Thanksgiving through Christmas, so if you want to be featured on the blog, please e-mail me your videos by November 15.

Thanks and again have fun!!!