Past happy Christmases

This Holiday season is going to be very hard, I know. The kids and I are missing John/Daddy very much. There is no way to get around that. I don't even want to put up decorations because my heart isn't in it and I just can't bear to see his stocking. I remember when I bought that stocking, over 30 years ago. That year we had John's, mine, and stockings for Meow-Meow, Squeaker, and JJ - the furchildren we had back then. Now, everyone is gone except me. I remember, too, thinking last year how bedraggled John's and my stockings looked compared to everyone else's but how precious they were to us because we had had them so many years. There was no way I was going to buy us new ones. Those stockings meant a lot to us.
So, this year, I will remember Christmases past and how happy they - and we [fur kids included] - were. I know I am lucky to have those memories.

John - Christmas 1978 - with all our Christmas stockings

John - Christmas 1978 - with his Christmas present