How I Deal with Missing my Mom during the Holidays...

Hey guys,

I just want to thank you for your loving comments and Instagram messages from my video about losing my mother to ALS. I got a message recently from someone who recently lost a parent and wants advice to go into the holiday season. I thought it would be a great blog post and hopefully help someone else who is suffering from the same thing.

This will be my third Holiday season without my mom, and I'm just going, to be honest, it just as hard as the first. The holidays were my mother's favorite time of the year. She loved to have people over on Thanksgiving and making me and my father hot chocolate while we put the outside Christmas decorations up.

What I do to make the holidays less sad because she isn't here is to put up her ornaments on our Chrismas tree. She loved the Peanuts, so basically, our tree is cover with Snoopy and Charlie Brown right now. I also still put her stocking up every year. For some people, that is hard, and they refuse to do it. For me, it is something I need to do. Because even though she isn't here physically, she will always be with us.

I also try not to get sad if we do something that she wouldn't want to do, or if we forget a tradition. My dad and I try to do everything that we did when my mom was alive, but obviously its not going to happen the same. My mom would get my Christmas PJs that I would open on Christmas Eve, so I had them when I opened presents in the morning. My dad has been such a kind to keep that tradition up.

Something we try to do is to make new traditions. Like last year, my dad said he wanted to watch the I Love Lucy Christmas Special every Christmas season. At first, I was a little upset because he wanted to start a tradition without my mom. But after I stepped back and thought about it, itis good to have a new tradition to look forward to every year.

I guess my biggest advice is to wrap yourself up with family. That is what gets me through every holiday season is my family and friends. It is the most wonderful time of the year, and I know that my mother would want me to be enjoying it and not sitting around missing her.

Everyone deals with grief differently, and this is just how I deal with it during the holidays. I hope that this was helpful for some of you and maybe make your Christmas a bit more enjoyable. Just remember that whoever you lost will always be with you.

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful holiday season!!!

Love Stephanie xxx