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Mary Cerimele's avatar

My mother passed away a week before Christmas back in 2012 after having a massive hemorrhagic stroke. My sisters and I clustered around her for the three days it took for her to find her way "on." We weren't sure she could hear us, but we talked to her endlessly anyway.

The thing is, my mother famously hid her abiding disdain for the holidays until we were well into adulthood, confessing when she was 80 that she always responded to Xmas greetings in her head with, "Merry Fucking Christmas to you, too." After that, we always exchanged 'Merry Fucking Christmas!' with one another. It was our inside joke and it made us all feel better about the relentless pressure to be upbeat during the holidays. It was a gift.

So in her last holiday season, we gathered around her hospital bed and wished her a Merry Fucking Christmas one last time. It made us laugh and cry, which pretty much sums up the season. We've kept up the tradition since then.

So when I saw your email subject line, I was startled by its familiarity for a microsecond, as if my mother had popped into my inbox for a moment. Thank you for channeling her into one more Christmas for me.

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Laura Piche's avatar

A fantastic treat to read; you're a gifted writer - thanks for sharing your talents. Hang in there, Awesome Stranger. You matter.

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