My Annual Christmas Letter/Blog

Dear family and friends,

For the last thirty years, I have written a newsy family letter to accompany my Christmas cards, no matter what chaotic circumstances made up our personal lives at the time. Even after I started blogging online and discovered instant contact through social media, there's been this driving force to document the year's events in a special letter, send them out to our many friends across the country. It wasn't a chore at all, but a pleasure I actually looked forward to from year to year.

But this year, I just didn’t have the same desire to reflect and share the activities of the Thompson household. Dean, my husband, is gone (as of February 2, 2018), and no matter how I try to put a gleeful spin on that fact, it just won't come out on paper in a way that adds to the holiday joy of the season.

With his funeral now comfortingly documented on video, I have spent the rest of the year, pouring myself into blogging for Outlook magazine, carrying out various church responsibilities (including church clerk, communications secretary, and Sabbath school superintendent--it's a small church), and enjoying our two granddaughters every chance I get.

It seems odd to go on errands or to a friend's house and not feel tethered to Dean's care anymore (returning home to check on his care, either by phone or in person). But whenever I think of that freedom as a positive in my life, I also experience a twinge of guilt.

I try not to think of my new widow status as something better or worse in my life. It's just different. There was just as much satisfaction and joy in being Dean's caregiver all those years, as it is to care about other things and for other people now.

Have a merry, happy New Year...you all mean the world to me!

Love and prayers,

Teresa

Here are some photographic remembrances that comfort me, and help me wait for the grand Resurrection Morning when Jesus comes again to take us all to heaven, as He promised in John 14:1-3. "Let not your heart be troubled...I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Come, Lord Jesus, come!

An Unassuming Life

It's with great sadness that this holiday season embarks upon my soul. And it isn't just because Dean, my husband of 42 years, is not with us this time, presiding over the gift-opening ceremonies in his Santa hat and with his cheery ho-ho-ho's.

I am also saddened not to receive my first Christmas card of the year, which for almost all those 42 years came from a college friend of mine, Joe Branson.

Joe revealed once to me, on one of the few phone conversations I had with him, that he mailed out way over a hundred cards every year to his friends. And they usually came almost right after Thanksgiving, as if he couldn't wait for these bright, glittery greetings to grace our mailboxes and set our spirits in the holiday, gift-giving mode every year.

Here it is, almost half of December gone now, and no card from Joe. I was justifiably anxious about it after talking to another college friend of mine (Sharon Titus Harrell) and discovered she had not received her customary card either. She too was suspicious that something was not right in Joe's world.

With very little internet searching, Sharon was able to find an obituary about him in a small town newspaper, his hometown of Pulaski, Virginia.

It was not what we were hoping to find; but there he was, with a photo to verify the news. In his obituary, it was stated that he was the last surviving member of his immediate family. The comments under the obituary revealed that some of his few, remaining relatives had regrettably not even received the news until this obituary was seen.

How lonely Joe's life was at the end can only be imagined. He was only 67 years old, died unexpectedly in his home, the obit said. He had recently retired from almost thirty years of elementary teaching, but the last card I received from him told how he was conducting a prison ministry through the mail and was writing to many, many inmates.

Joe's death may have gone unnoticed, but his life and influence surely encircled thousands of young children and God-thirsty adults on the verge of despair. Yes, Joe will not be lonely in the resurrection. His voice will likely be the first one raised in worshipful praise to our Creator God in heaven, prompting all his friends and loved ones to join him in song, just as he diligently prompted us to begin our gift-giving preparations for the Christmas season every year here on earth.

This thought has lifted my saddened heart and will enable me to continue my holiday with joy.

Joe would want it that way.

Joe Branson's obituary

A Special Day

They say grief is most difficult around the holidays, and this first Christmas without Dean I know will not feel the same. My daughter, sensing this for me, and feeling it at the same time herself, is making every effort to not only make this time of year special for me, but to make it different for all of us.

For instance, instead of passing out gifts to open, as we are accustomed on Christmas Eve, she has planned a mystery treasure hunt for our granddaughters. It won't be the same, but maybe that's a good thing. It won't remind us of Dean's traditional way of wearing a Santa hat and directing the girls in who to give the gifts to, one by one, even after they were capable of reading the name tags on the packages themselves.

All of this and more is good in helping us get over the fact that Dean is not here to enjoy the Christmas season with us. But then today, I was blindsided by Dean's birthday. Yes, December 4th was "his day". How do you replace that? I thought it would be easy to ignore the day, rather like I did with our anniversary last summer.

There are lots of things going on in the summer though, making it easier to let our anniversary pass more or less unnoticed. But his birthday falls on a time of year, when one is more homebound. We just had another hefty load of snow this weekend, forcing us seniors to stay closer to home and off the slippery streets and sidewalks when we can. I have more time on my hands to reminisce.

So, here I am, pouring over old photos, remembering how I would go to such lengths every year to celebrate his birthday with a come-and-go party, or some such event, so he would feel "special" on his day. He always said December birthdays were hard as a kid, because everyone's focus and finances would be on the birthday of Jesus. Not that he minded sharing the time with Him he would say, but especially as a child, the loss would have been noted with some sadness.

I'm not a person prone to tears, which they say is alright for those who grieve. But last night, I too had some sadness, and actually shed some healthy tears after a photo excursion into past times with my life partner.

Unfortunately, this is all I can give him this birthday. But, maybe that's enough to get me through the day. I'm thankful for the relief those tears brought. Yes, tears might just be my new way to celebrate Dean's birthday. But, I'm OK with that. It's the least I can do to keep his memory alive.

trying to make daddy feel special on his birthday--he always appreciated our efforts