There are no Christmas trees in the house this year. It’s a Chinese tradition not to celebrate things with too much fervor during the first year after a loved one passes away, but since we still did have a brief Christmas party this year I’m just glad that my Dad did not opt to remove every form of celebration like other more traditional Chinese families we know. I get the feeling my grandmother wouldn’t want us to anyway, although I do feel strange spending my first Christmas without her. Actually now that I think about it, it feels like an alternate universe kind of weird.
