That's all of us two years ago in front of our stockinged fireplace.
Last year Christmas came only 3 months after Chase's death. We didn't put up a tree or stockings or any kind of decorations. We didn't even stay home, but left Dodge and had a different kind of Christmas in Galveston at the Marriott.
This year at the insistence of my youngest, we put up a tree, put out our nativity, and a few sparse decorations. I went to hang the stockings, but froze.
I know some people hang stockings for those who have passed away, but I couldn't. I couldn't bear seeing that hanging Christmas morning unfilled and hanging loose next to the others, nor could I not place Chase's there while I hung the rest.
So I left the stockings in the box, closed it up, and put them all back in the garage.
