the christmas star

How I fell in love with the stars and the Universe itself… ❤️ A Christmas story…in honor of his memory today… xx

The Christmas Star

Elizabeth Ryba ©2010

My father pointed towards the midnight winter sky and whispered a secret to me, “That is the Christmas star, Elizabeth.” A single chilly moment captured in time; I was six and this is the only memory of my father’s voice. Within that same winter season he returned to the stars.

His life was buoyed by constant struggle. A twist of fate when he was young scarred his spirit so awfully. It’s as though he lost part of his soul that night and spent the rest of his short life trying to fill the emptiness that remained. Alcohol was often his escape. Finally, on December 23, 1981 he was released from that struggle as well.

My mother and I stayed up late that night to watch Superman. She fell asleep before the movie ended and I, full of boundless energy, waited for my father to get home. I remember watching Irv Weinstein on the late news and then turning the volume down when the TV station signed off. I read my mother’s magazines, looked through the pictures in her bird books, and played with the pups. It didn’t seem that too much time had passed before I heard a knock at the door. My mother woke up at this sound. Wrapping her night robe tightly around her, she told me to open the door.

In slow motion my mind replays this scene, now, as it does every time I am waiting for someone to come home. I wanted to see my father on that porch, where he had shown me the Christmas star. My mother had said he went Christmas shopping that night. I couldn’t wait to see him with arms full of presents. Both he and my grandfather looked a lot like Santa Claus. However, the two men standing on my father’s porch were certainly no harbingers of holiday delights. From my six year old height, the officer at the bottom of the stairs was eye level and, unfairly, my eyes fixed upon him. He bowed his head, and removed his hat to shield himself from my stare. …the snowflakes were remarkably noticeable as they laid to rest on the officer’s shoulders… (continued below) #astrology #universe #starrywonder #holidayseason