Merry Christmas

Memory is a way of
holding onto the things you love,
the things you are,
the things you never want to lose.


I was adorable when I was two years old.

Yes, I love myself as a child. Who can resist a child with a mop of orange-red curls and porcelain white skin?

In my younger years, we would spend Christmas at Mam-Maw and Gran-Gran's house (my mother's parents). They only lived two hours away from our home and it was a trip we took often on the weekends.

I remember being two years old much to the amazement of many people. I remember random things like...the coldness of the metal plate on the door and the roughness of the fabric on the chair.

I was a prissy little girl which you could tell by my little gown, red painted fingernails and the way I opened my gifts with two fingers.

Of course, the VERY young man in the background is my dad. He has been gone for a little over a year now. I guess in many ways I still can't believe that he is gone. While looking at the photograph of him, I can almost smell his Old Spice.

On this particular Christmas I received one of my most favorite gifts of all time - a rocking pony. It took me a while to warm up to it, but once I did, I never wanted to quit riding. The squeaky squeak as I rocked back and forth on the pony just added to my enjoyment.

You know, I can remember kissing the top of the pony's head and how sometimes my nightgown got in the way as I tried to get on the pony to ride.

To look backward for a while
is to refresh the eye,
to restore it,
and to render it the more fit
for its prime function of looking forward.~Margaret Fairless Barber


I hope you all have a wonderful day whether it is spent with family, friends or alone. However you spend it, take a minute to be grateful for all the love you've received during your life. That's what I'm thankful for most of all. I have been loved and still have people who love me. Thank you for all your sweet and encouraging messages and notes to me over the past few years. I won't ever be able to fully express my gratitude for your kindnesses. I hope that God will grant you his choices blessings and that you have a wonderful holiday season.

Yulia Brodskaya

Tweet