Holiday Cheer??

The emails I get from Sissy continue to be positive. She seemed to really enjoy the last port they stopped at...
got to do some neat stuff. She says it's easier missing the holiday while on deployment since everybody is "in the same boat". Unfortunately I have a little tear in my eye and a lump in my throat as I go about my holiday preparations. This Momma is really missing her little girl who shares her love for the holidays and all of the holiday prepping women do. This year in an effort to keep the holidays from being so sad without her, we've planed a ski trip the week before Christmas with several of our best friends as a family gift. I'm not missing the stress of doing the holiday shopping but I am missing getting to wrap my color coordinated Christmas gifts (it's just one of my quirky obsessions). In spite of my inner sadness I'm determined that I will put on a smile and not let the boys see it (they would never get it anyway). My husband (who is a saint) has become quiet used to walking in a room only to see me weeping for no reason at all. It's not like a woman can really explain it anyway to a man whose loins have never been ripped apart in childbirth. At times like these it would be nice to have the Que Sera Sera way of coping that most men enjoy. I love being a woman but sometimes the intensity of the emotions we so aptly display can be a little hard to handle and absolutely impossible to explain. I know all of you Navy Moms understand that especially those with daughters. So I'm putting on my "Holiday Cheer" although most of it is nothing but put on.... Next year will be a whole different story.