| I will never get over it! |
| It is still tough for me to comprehend what happened. For years, my family has had two “Elves on the Shelf”. Buddies. Amigos. We hid both, without fail, in separate locations in the house. Occasionally, we hid them together. Thankfully, not this time. Quite thankfully. I have to admit, I was an accomplice to the devastating act, naively that is. Having come upon my cat pinning one of those elves down on the pool table in a predatory fashion earlier in the week, I should have taken more severe measures given the importance of this elf to my family. Instead, I merely moved him into the kitchen, having completely lost track of the other elf temporarily. I would later find that other elf near the front door. The kitchen elf, however, sat comfortably on a small table between a variety of framed photos, out of the way of this room’s normal busy-ness as well as the cat. I would then go about my usual life, unencumbered by any further worries about finding that very same elf in the claws of my beloved feline. And as luck would have it, I was right. So imagine my surprise and horror, when I arrived to the kitchen yesterday morning to find my dog in the middle of ripping apart the body of my unsuspecting “Elf on the Shelf”, already decapitated and footless. Needless to say, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rushing over to the both of them, I pulled the crumpled body of the elf out of my dog’s mouth and picked the rest of him up off the ground. My heart sank as I realized that there was no way to piece my long-time friend back together. I was left feeling quite sad – near tears actually – despite all rationale and my grown-up years. That may sound childish, especially in light of the fact that I have a second “Elf on the Shelf” to carry the torch forward, but sometimes, the timing of situations has just as much to do with our response to them as the actual situation, itself. And let’s face it…it’s been a really tough year. So much has changed and been lost for all of us. I just didn’t need this particular “Elf on the Shelf” to be yet another one of those things for me nor my family. I’m sure so many of you understand. In any event, we will soldier on. The weight of my family’s Christmas tradition will now rest squarely on the shoulders of the surviving “Elf on the Shelf” and the memory of his friend, who will be thought of every year going forward despite. “Mr. Elf on the Shelf…You will be sorely missed!” |
