Christmas Houses from Fred's

As my daughter and myself decorated for Christmas, the familiar, lighted, Christmas houses were pulled from their boxes. Just ordinary houses that you have seen in the stores, but these are my houses now. My mother died eight years ago with breast cancer as you know if you have read my blogs. When it was decided "her stuff" should be cleaned out and departed with inorder to help my dad manage the house, my brothers and sister gathered to organize, price and sell odds and ends. Me, being the youngest of the four,have struggled with everything about her death. So, I found ways to avoid the going through her stuff. On the day of the yard sale, I finally got myself together to go to my parent's home for the sale. My sister was quite irritated with me not helping. When I walked around the tables of stuff, my vision was blurred from the memories of my mother. As I walked around to the back porch there was a table full of Christmas stuff. People were grabbing things left and right. As I drew in closer I saw the boxes. Among ribbons and tinsel. There were the houses my mother had collected since my childhood. Each year we made the trip to the local Fred's store with her precious money to buy another 7.88 Christmas house. I raised my voice and spoke to these strangers. "These aren't for sale." They looked at me confused. As I gathered the boxes from them, I felt the warmth from the trips to Fred's. My sister exclaimed as to why I would want them. They aren't expensive. I could buy my own. As I sit here in my den, the lights from these beautiful houses light up the corners of my house. My daughter placed them ever so carefully in the locations she chose. The final Christmas for my mother wasn't known by us. We never dreamed she wouldn't be around for the next. I think about that day of the sale. What if the houses had been sold? Sure I could have bought more, but these are the houses she picked out, she saved her money for and my money just can't buy "that stuff."