This Christmas decorations may be up and the lights may be bright, but this Christmas just doesn't have the same sparkle of years past. The bright light that guided us in years past is gone now. On Christmas Eve chores would be done early because everybody was coming over for the annual family Christmas gathering. He never tired of remembering Christmas's long ago. Christmas's back home when times were harder; so that the grandchildren would one day tell their kids how things were. "We didn't have much, but we were happy," he would say with a gleam in his eye. He always displayed a rare humility when presents were opened. Everyone knew that a simple flannel shirt would transform this grandfather into a wide-eyed child for a few moments. I learned the love of Christmas and the meaning of family at the feet of this simple family farmer. At least on that special day decorum among all family members present was expected, or else... Before everyone prepared to go home for the evening: the booming announcement was made, "Don't forget we're all here tomorrow."
On Christmas day Grandpa would sit in his favorite chair, wearing his Sunday best, while the various family members arrived. There was always room for one more at that table and food was plentiful. Grandma would cook for a week just to make sure no one went hungry on that day. Many of the stories I re-tell today were gathered at that dinner table many Christmas's ago. We all joked, laughed, and sometimes even cried when departed family and friends were remembered. Old, familiar stories were recounted with a touch of humor that left everyone in stitches. Old friends and their many adventures were remembered over coffee and a lot of laughter. There was the gentleman that came to visit relatives on the East Coast and became lost when he lost sight of the landmark his niece had given him. The police eventually brought him home, which he never lived down upon mistakenly telling the jokers back home all about his adventure. The hilarious story of the family friends that turned up at the house in the Azores because his brother had asked them to leave played like an old time radio show, with Grandpa in the lead role.
As the years passed and the grand kids grew Christmas became a gathering place for the day. The family tree was laying roots in different directions, which brought the first changes to Christmas at Grandpas house. The old stories were told even though not everyone understood them anymore. The one constant was the presence of the one man everyone respected. Chores were still delegated although fewer willing candidates were to be found. This is pretty much how Christmas came and went until one day everything changed.
Years later Christmas passed to their daughter's home where Manuel and Maria had gone to live. Although time had slowed his step, the love of family and Christmas never left him. Now surrounded by his great grandchildren; the longing for long ago Christmas's became even more pronounced. The grand kids and their children would come from far and wide to be there on that special day. Even Santa Claus came to visit because Manuel Cabral had been especially good that year. As tired as he was grandpa would stay until everyone had gone. When another flannel shirt was unwrapped grandma would say, " he's never going to wear out the ones he's got in the drawer." He was always thankful to his creator for the bounty America had provided him and his family.
In the final years, many of the grand kids had moved away. He always knew that the phone calls would come and would inevitably ask, "have they called yet?" He always had a kind word for his caller and a sad tone in his tired voice. He would always close with, "when are you coming to see us?" Grandpa was playing the role his mother had occupied his dear sweet mother had occupied in another place and time. She had also seen her children and grand children leave for distant lands with the promise that they would one day return. As the years passed quickly, Christmas never lost its meaning.
With his final Christmas approaching and from the confines of a hospital bed, he still managed to think of those who would not be there that year. I still have the last Christmas card he sent me that year with best wishes and the best things in life. I thought at the time, "could this really be good-bye?" In January he left us to be with his mother. This Christmas and those to come will never be the same because he's not with us anymore. He left us so many memories along with his empty place at the table, until we meet again!!!
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