We’re still a couple days away but since I may be out of pocket for a day or two......
It was December of 1981. I had just received my honorable discharge from the Navy back in September and had accepted a job at the beginning of November with the Bechtel Power corporation as a startup engineer for the Pale Verde Nuclear Generating Station just west of Phoenix, Arizona. One evening a week or so before Christmas I was talking to my parents back in Chattanooga on the telephone. My Dad asked me what day I was coming in for the holidays. I explained that unfortunately, what with getting the new house and buying furnishings and such, I was going to have to sit this one out.
I had been in the Navy for six years so I was used to missing out. You sort of get used to it, or at least that’s what you tell everyone. My Dad told me he really thought I should come home for Christmas. He said there would be a plane ticket waiting for me at the airport. He said he’d see me when I got home. That was it. No discussion. I thanked him and I was really surprised to be honest with you. I never thought he was all that sentimental. Anyway, we had a blast that year. It seemed like everyone was there. It was one of those Christmases that you never forget. Even though Dad was completely healthy at Christmas he passed away in February of the following year.
There’s no place like home for the holidays and even though you may have loved ones that due to circumstances, whether in the service or off starting a new job or whatever, tell you they can’t make it in for some reason or the other, I promise you, there’s probably a good chance that the reason they tell you that they don’t mind missing out that year is simply because they want you to have a good time and not worry about them.
I long ago learned to be thankful for the greatest gift one could ever receive for Christmas, the opportunity to spend precious time celebrating the festivities of the season and sharing the accompanying love and joy with those we cherish the most. I sincerely wish for each and every one of you here on VolNation the very Merriest of Christmases and a genuinely Happy New Year. May God bless you and yours, everyone.
