We’re talking about funniest Christmas memories over at the Wives of Faith Twelve Days of Christmas Blog Carnival today, and the first thing I thought of was the first Christmas Cliff and I ever shared as a married couple.
We were living in Zachary, LA, a small town where both our families lived and where Cliff’s side of the family still lives, just outside Baton Rouge. My parents were two minutes away by car, my inlaws five. The little house we rented had hardwood floors that creaked when you walked over them and one of those old heater vents in the floor of the main hall that we had to step over to avoid burning our toes on the hot metal. If you ran the microwave and the electric can opener at the same time, the power went out. But it was our little home and we loved it.
That Christmas I think we had an artificial tree, a hand-me-down from my parents and I made almost all homemade ornaments for it. That was my “crafty” phase of life, and I spent hours at night working on painting brightly colored balls, fashioning gingerbread men and women out of clay, painstakingly painting little plaster o’ paris ornaments I bought from Wal-Mart. We still have a few of those on our tree this year.
I was excited about our first Christmas together and couldn’t wait to “travel” back and forth from his parents to my parents to our house, eating yummy things and opening presents with our families. So much to look forward to!
Until about 4 a.m., when I was awakened to an incredibly horrible sound, a sound at first I thought was of a poor animal outside needing to be put out of his misery. It was this retching, gagging, heaving noise that offended my auditory senses and made my own stomach churn. As I became more awake, I realized with a sense of panic that my loving husband wasn’t beside me in the bed and that those sounds of puking were in fact coming from our bathroom. My husband of six months was having a come to Jesus moment with the ivory throne.
Not on CHRISTMAS! I thought.
“Honey… um, are you ok?” I called, knowing that the answer was clearly no.
“I’m… I’m ok, I’ll be fi–.” he tried to say, as another wave of gross noises came out.
The thought of Christmas dinner was becoming less and less of a reality. Or that appealing.
As he staggered out of the bathroom and laid back down on the bed, I had to ask it.
“So, um, are you going to be okay to go do Christmas today with our parents?”
He looked at me, his face green, his eyes green, everything in fact was pretty much green.
“Um, I don’t think so. I’m sorry….” he said before rolling over.
When I was sure that our families were all awake, I got to make the calls letting everyone know we’d caught the Plague or at least a bad virus and that we wouldn’t be going anywhere. I offered to come bring presents, but was quickly voted down on that one from both sets of parents who assured us they would bring the gifts over, maybe push them in the door with a stick. A really long stick.
After taking care of Cliff that morning, that afternoon I started feeling funny. And then it was my turn with the ivory throne.
The rest of the day remains a blur. I remember Cliff and I both laying around, taking turns moaning, visiting the bathroom and apologizing profusely to the other for ruining each other’s Christmas. But I also remember there were some chuckles at some point, a few shakes of the head as we realized this would be our First Christmas memory. And big smiles (well, at the time they were more like a grimace), grateful that if we had to be sick on Christmas Day, we could at least be together.
Another military wife told me a few years ago that we have the choice to cry or the choice to laugh. It’s important to choose to laugh. At the time, it didn’t seem all that funny, but looking back, it’s very funny. Who knows, maybe it was a foreshadowing of all of the ups and downs to come and a reminder that nothing is ever fully under our control.
But our choice to laugh is. Make that choice today.
For other really funny stories, visit Wives of Faith.
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Awwww that was cute. Love that you chose to laugh. Today I choose to laugh!!
In sickness and in health, right? I feel so bad for you guys but it is a cute story with an important moral that most couples need to learn!
ahh that is a cute story…and you are so right , we choose to cry or laugh =)
haha you tell a good story! That is sad that you were sick, but at least you were together!
Oh, dear! You’re right—that’s just one of those things that you have to laugh about! I’ve had many of those moments myself—you laugh to keep from crying! Also, my husband and I both grew up in the Central/Baker area near Zachary—Small world!