Wrapping Presents, Unwrapping Thoughts

I was wrapping Christmas presents today when it hit me that my little brother won’t be here this year. We re-use wrapping paper, partially because you can’t really find wrapping paper here and so we have to bring it back from Europe and partially because my mom doesn’t believe in wasting anything. Anyway, we also re-use the little tags that describe whose present is whose and who gave it. And as I was going through them, looking for mine (“For papa’ from Jessica, with love”, “For Jessica from Santa Claus, Merry Christmas”), I realized that there were a disproportionate amount of tags with my little brother Bennie’s name on them. I kept going through them and thought, “Gosh, that kid gets a lot of presents.” And then it hit me that he’s not coming home. And that made me sad. I know he’s going to have a blast in Vancouver, or wherever he is, but still. Christmas isn’t really Christmas without your family.