MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!
what are some of your favorite Christmas memories? Mine is of my last Christmas in Frankfurt, Germany. We had a live tree with little candles on it. After midnight Mass at the Cathedral we walked home, lit the candles, sang Stille Nacht, and then opened presents, going to bed about 4 in the morning. On Christmas Day we had a bunch of relatives over for more celebrating and then on the 26th we had friends come together for a 3rd day of Christmas!
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There was no time to grieve for Joe then, and it wasn't until a some years later that it hit me. I was at a Saturday afternoon party in Westwood, CA, when I heard the sound of a laugh box, and suddenly tears were streaming down my face. More of the story here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1911231
I also traveled back to Vietnam with a Vietnamese friend and took a photo of her mother sitting on the ground, preparing dinner, and it came out amazing. I enlarged and framed the photo and gave it to my friend at Christmas, and she cried when she saw it. That was memorable.
We may have good childhood memories of getting that bike we wanted for Christmas, but it says something good about us, I think, that our most compelling memories are about others, and our feelings toward them.
Happy Holidays to all my fellow and sister DUers! And Love and Peace to all of us in the New Year. 
I went to Vietnam a couple years ago as a tourist, it's an amazing country. So sorry to hear sad stories like this.
