from Ben's mom
I remember a particular Christmas when I was probably 7 and my grandpa was driving long-haul truck one Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is when we typically opened our packages and they were all wrapped and under the tree. I remember my grandma suggesting we should open them and one of our parents objecting and suggesting we wait until another time when Grandpa would be back. So Grandma put it to the three oldest of us. (Shannon would have been 6 and Jeff nearly 5.)
We may have lost Jeff but Shannon and I were steadfast. I remember one of us saying, "It just isn't Christmas without Grandpa." The next day, I heard him come in through the garage and we ran to meet him. He had driven a long stretch straight through to be with us earlier than planned and so we only had to wait a day for him. He couldn't believe we had held up "Christmas" for him. It was entirely worth it.
Years later, as a more mature older teen, I remember reflecting on that Christmas (one of the fondest in my memory) and thinking of our statement: "It just isn't Christmas without Grandpa." It clicked in my head then that the statement that was most true was really, "It just isn't Christmas without Jesus." While I will miss Grandpa this year, it is CHRISTMAS. Because He has come, Emanuel, Christ with us.
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