Mia - craving colour

I chose to review your item today as part of my review challenge at the "Invalid Item" .


Synopsis
The narrator/writer shares how Christmas was once a happy celebration, but as the years pass, people die or move away, and loved ones turn ill, the season fills with shadows.

First Impressions:
An honest and emotional piece of writing. I think many who read this can relate to at least one thing. For me, living on the other side of the world from my family, I can relate to the losing touch with others. Although it has shown me who my friends truly are, there have been Christmas' when the should-be-festive phone call is simply an hour of subtle guild trips that I don't call enough (when the person on the other end is just as guilty). The part with the recipes/cookbook also hit home. Cooking in my family is very important and passing down recipes from parents to children seems to be dying out.

Suggestions:

I try to give as many suggestions as possible so the writer can pick and choose anything they feel would help their story. Some of it might be from a technical point of view, like I was an editor, or they are things I simply felt as a reader, but please take it all with a grain of salt.

In General:
There actually wasn't anything major to address in this piece. The flow was good, word choice was fantastic, and was grammar solid. I wouldn't even suggest expanding it. There were a few tiny changes that I mentioned below.

Specifics:
new square or cookie recipe (full stop?) Sometimes Mom
The Christmas Eve potluck has slipped off the calendar and with it the joyous chaos of hugs, greetings, banter, laughter, a flood of food flowing from the table, update exchanges and keeping track of my niece’s and nephews’ yearly transitions. (The current structure makes it sound like the banter, hugs, and food were 'on' the calender.)
From the time I left my parental home (This reads fine, but I wondered why it was 'parental home' rather than 'my parent's home')
The final two sentences are good, but they could also be put together into one.

Favorite Lines:
There are no new recipes now, just a few pages of traditional favorites typed up in my binder, the few I collected from her before her sudden departure.
Years after launching me into a life of my own, he’s paying with his.
The days turn on ambiguity—a desire to celebrate without heartache; a wish for deliverance without loss.
Each of these were very powerful lines to me.

All in all:
A moving short story that emotionally connected with me. Even if readers haven't experienced family members slowly fading, you've written in well enough that it easily brings tears.

Thanks for sharing your work. Keep writing and good luck!

Robyn