My Christmas Memory With My Dad

We’re are in the midst of the holiday season, and now seems to be the time when we tend to think about family members you don’t get to see at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas anymore for whatever reason. It’s during these time periods where lingering conflicts with a family member for no apparent reason begins to way heavy on someone’s mind. I know right now, I’m no exception to that rule.

Thoughts of my Dad have been burning a hole through my mind a lot in the past few weeks because I’ve been thinking of way to create a Christmas memory with my own kids like he did for me growing up. Right now, I don’t have a current phone number to reach him and if I wanted to drive to go see him I wouldn’t have a clue where to look. That saddens me because we use to be very close.

Growing up my Dad lived in Ohio while I lived in SC with my Mom, and I saw him maybe once to twice a year if I was lucky. Considering the cost of traveling, I can see why that was the case. I actually didn’t hold that against him. I missed him yes, but I was living my life in SC to the best of my ability. Ironically, I saw him more when he lived in Ohio compared to him being only 3 hours away from me now.

When he did see me he showered me with materialistic gifts and grand vacations. Thanks to him I got to go to many amusement parks, various beach vacations, and so many other things. I must say he’s provided me with some of my most memorable parts of my childhood.

My Favorite Christmas Memory

In fact, my favorite Christmas memory was with him was when he would take the entire family to Kraynak’s of Hermitage, PA which has all kinds of neat gifts. However, that wasn’t the best part of this shop… The best part was there was a LONG and I mean a LONG display of Christmas trees all decorated in different ways complete with gift settings and train tracks that we would walk through. They set it up in a tunnel like setting. I can tell you it was the one place that gained the most smiles from all of us while we were there because we talked about all the trees and decorations. One year at my Dad’s house he had a HUGE Christmas tree that was decorated just as fancy as one of the ones from this store, and I can remember staring at it with pure delight for hours on end.

Here is a small video of it. It’s truly beautiful and a memory you can take with you for life. They change their display every year too.

Then from there we would always go to a chocolate shop where we could watch them make various kinds of chocolate candies. I’d get to always pick out some to take home. I look forwarded to this trip every year. I would love to take my kids there one day too.

For as much as I loved these gifts and trips with my Dad, I miss our conversations. We chatted through instant messenger systems a lot while I was in college (I didn’t TOUCH a computer until 1998.) I can remember feeling closer to him during that period of my life than any other time. I couldn’t wait until our next chat because we talked about everything under the sun.

Life happens and life changes. I know relationships do the same. I can remember my Dad stating that when I married the right man he’d no longer have to worry about me anymore. I know I’m married to the right man, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need or want the man who helped create me to be a part of my life. I miss talking with him and mean really talking not a few words here and there.

This holiday season cherish the time you have with your family while you have the chance. Make memories together that last a lifetime. If you’re close enough to Kraynak’s of Hermitage, PA take the FREE walk through Santa’s Christmasland together and enjoy the displays and talk about them together.

What are you doing to make a Christmas memory moment this year with your family?

Disclosure: For as much as I love Kraynaks this is NOT a sponsored post. This is just me sharing a bit of personal information with you.