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Christmas Angel

Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Day 1979


















December 25, 2014 was our last Christmas with our beloved Chantoda/Susee Mable—loving mother to Anil and Suha and beloved wife to P.D. Anandaraju. And it was a glorious one. Despite Mum's illness, we had a happy day filled with love, laughter, music and joy. I did my best to cook the Indian feast she always prepared for us every holiday season. It was my turn to step up and luckily, she had taught me everything I needed to know well in advance. In fact, she'd been preparing me my whole life. The tree was radiant and overflowing with gifts. The first photograph above is from our last Christmas Eve together and is unintentionally apt. Like the angel on the tree with the radiant lights—Mum was our Christmas Angel, always shining bright. She was the heart and soul of our family.

The second photograph is from Christmas 1979. I remember vividly, Mum asking my brother and I to wait for her to at least get out of bed before we ripped the carefully selected Christmas paper off of the gifts—just so she could see the joy on our faces. It was one of those rare moments where she sat still unencumbered by all the cooking, scripture/prayer activities, guest-welcoming and telephone handling duties that occupied her day. Three hundred and sixty five days a year she was busy but we always came first, especially on December 25th. We weren't greeted with just one or two gifts, there would be several beautifully wrapped packages waiting for us under the tree. How did my parents do it? It was beyond me. Mum was such a great planner and organizer. And never once did she spare a thought for herself. For Mum, Christmas was all about looking after her family and for the rest of us Christmas was and still is synonymous with my mother. She was Christmas. She made those happy times possible. She breathed them to life, just by being herself and trying so hard.

PS: Can you spot the Sacred Heart Jesus pic on top of the television set? That image, introduced to our family by my mother, has been with us from the very beginning (it was with Mum until the end in the hospital too) and still takes center stage in our living room. Also, Dad was our family photographer back in the day, it's why he rarely features in our childhood photos.

Posted by: Suhasini
© Anandaraju Family Archives
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