Tuesdays Unwrapped: Linger On the Sticky Places

This was our craft at MOPS today. A photograph modge-podged on a small block of wood and garnished with a ribbon. Simple, really. Yet so sentimental. An ornament you hang on the tree year after year. I knew this was our craft project, but the tears that threatened to fall when I saw that little block waiting for me were unexpected.
 Grief is tricky like that.
 Suddenly, I was a kid again, standing in the front hall of my grandparents' home and staring at their collection of "ornaments". Only theirs were not seasonal. Grammie had modge-podged a baby picture of each of her grandchildren on her wooden blocks and hung them on the wall. Other pictures in larger frames were added over time, but the baby pictures were always my favorite.
There hasn't been a lot of time to grieve the loss of our grandmothers. Like everything else in this crazy busy season of life, this, too, gets shoved aside. To be dealt with later. Yet it can't be rushed. And I'm always surprised when the tears show up.
The message of the day at MOPS was to linger. To savor the moments of the season, delight in our children, relish the memories we're making...and try not to micro-manage it. In theory, I want to linger. To stop the rush and the madness. But the truth is, sometimes I like this pace. It saves me from dealing with the messy and the sticky.
It's the first Christmas without both of our Grammies. And though I want to rush through and get past the hurt of missing them, I'm going to try and linger on the sweet memories of these two wonderful women and the joy they brought to our lives.