Well, they are leaving today after a month-long visit. The time has come, I suppose, but I will miss them terribly. I've gotten used to having them around, and the place will seem empty without their smiling faces. It was a big crowd to be sure, but far from wishing there weren't so many of them, I looked forward to each new arrival with enthusiasm. Besides, they haven't been a bit of trouble, and their presence among us only enhanced our family's Advent and Christmas season.
I am speaking, of course, about our stunning array of 2005 Christmas photos--sent from around the country by loving friends and family.
Even now I am smiling as I carefully remove each image from our two bulletin boards. We received close to one hundred family photos from friends and relatives this year, and I am amazed to consider the love and care needed to stage, snap, develop, write, address, stamp, and mail them all. For every single one of these cheerful images, there is a parent, usually Mom, working, often frantically, behind the scenes. Like me, she is in love with her children, and the best way she can possibly imagine of sending good cheer to others is by sharing those faces, the most beautiful faces in the world.
There are so many different families represented in our collection. Large families with infants teetering on the laps of siblings, small families with one beaming "pride and joy," new families with red-velvet-and-lace garbed "first" babies, happy families with smiling fathers and mothers, homeschooling families with miles of books warping the shelves, dog-loving families with Fido front and center, prosperous families with professional portraits in foil-lined envelopes, religious families with children surrounding the Nativity. Each one has a tale to tell.
As I gaze at one image after another, these stories flood my mind and lift my heart. (Try to imagine the pictures as I point out each one.) Here is the newborn infant of a friend who was told a back injury would make it impossible to carry a child to term. There is the gorgeous ten-year-old who survived Leukemia diagnosed before the age of two. This is the family who loves exotic vacations--I see Hawaii was this year's destination. Here is the nine-year-old girl whose married elder sister made her a very young aunt this year. Oh, and this lovely family of five has a humorous mother. Printed on the back of their photo is a frank confession: "It took 217 shots to get one halfway decent picture. Merry Christmas!" I cannot help chuckling to think of it.
There are sad stories too, hidden in some photos. I hope these pre-school boys do not know how very sick their mother is. Oh, and here are the children whose parents, college sweethearts, ended their marriage this year. The girls are smiling, but look at the younger one. She can't hide the sorrow in her eyes--I see it, I'm a mother. This blue-eyed baby in a cowboy costume lost his only brother this year, a precious ten year old who finally succumbed to a lifelong illness. Will the little guy even remember him, I wonder. And what about the families who should have had newborn infants gracing their photos this year? I cannot help but grieve thinking of the bitter loss of miscarriage. These families have felt the sting of tragedy, yet someone, again probably Mom, found within her the strength to send out not just Christmas cards, but photos. Someone rose above grief and disappointment to share with us her greatest treasures. These images are worth that much more because they are a testament to hope winning over despair.
Many of our pictures have another striking aspect as well. Look, here are the son and daughter of my childhood playmate. With over a thousand miles between us, I have never met these young ones in person, yet, I distinctly recall that very same little girl ringing my doorbell to invite me to play not so long ago. This pile of photos show my children's many beautiful cousins. Here and there, in those faces, I see glimpses of my husband's own large and happy family, the last of whom left the nest this year. What an astounding thing it is to see those faces and forms return to adorn a new generation.
Musing about family resemblance calls to mind these lines by Thomas Hardy:
I am the family face;
Flesh perishes, I live on,
Projecting trait and trace
Through time to times anon,
And leaping from place to place
Over oblivion.
The years-heired feature that can
In curve and voice and eye
Despise the human span
Of durance--that is I;
The eternal thing in man,
That heeds no call to die.
(Heredity)
These are thought provoking words, and yet Hardy misses the mark. The "family face," though beautiful and heart warming to behold in these young ones, is certainly not "[t]he eternal thing in man." The legacy we must leave our children is not blue eyes and straight teeth, for these things are passing away with all speed, no matter how many descendants we have. The mark of the "family face" must be left on the only thing that truly "heeds no call to die," their eternal souls.
According to the Catechism:
"In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason, the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica [the Domestic Church]. It is in the bosom of the family that parents are 'by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.'" (CCC, Section 1656.)
I am deeply grateful that so many friends and family took the time to send a postcard from their Domestic Churches to us this Christmas. Our scrapbook will be as full as our hearts, and we will not forget to pray for these loved ones throughout the year.
This is truly lovely and moving. Loving your blog, Alice.
Posted by: Genevieve | January 11, 2006 at 06:03 AM
Alice, what a beautiful and moving post! I almost felt as if I was there looking at the photos with you! What a great start to my morning, thank you and God Bless.
Hugs, M.H.
Posted by: Happyheartsmom | January 11, 2006 at 10:55 AM
I found mine!! What a lovely reflection.
Posted by: Mary Ellen | January 11, 2006 at 01:05 PM
Hey! It's like Where's Waldo!
Posted by: MacBeth | January 12, 2006 at 07:38 PM
What a lovely post Alice. You have a gift for sharing through the written word.
Posted by: Theresa ♥ | January 31, 2007 at 06:19 PM