Well here we are one week before Christmas eve... I've started writing this post and stopped more times than I can count ( not the Christmas Eve part, just in general). For several different reasons, one very dominant reason is because I have been done my shopping for a while. Yes I'm THAT person, but if it makes you feel any better this year I've become the person who isn't done all of their wrapping, for one of the CHEESIEST reasons. Ready for this? I'm not done wrapping my dog's gifts because I'm with her ALL the time when I'm home... I need like 15 min an I'm good lol.
I still love Christmas, in similar ways I did as a child. When I used to shop for my dad, it was a big deal. My uncle would take me shopping and it would be a whole big night, and a tradition we did every year. He still loves Christmas too, so this might be why I still enjoy it the way I do. He also taught me to shop all year (yes I'm THAT person). I remember one year My dad took my brother and I to the Boxing day sales, and we were so excited we got ALL of our extended family members done for next year. I like to remember the traditions from my childhood, they're what makes me feel like Christmas. Unfortunately, a lot of them are gone now. My dad has passed away, and my family has gotten older and we have made our own traditions. I with my husband, and my brother with his wife. I've held onto some of the traditions from when I was a kid. I still go out for a Drive looking at the lights ( we've moved it to Christmas eve though), and I still have the Christmas eve dinner I had as a kid. But most of my traditions revolve around the holiday dates themselves... so even though I was wrapping my gifts listening to the Boney M Christmas album (as tradition goes) and I watched the Muppets family Christmas my brother put on DVD for me (because it was always the first Christmas special we watched EVERY year), I wasn't feeling it.
I wasn't feeling it until this past weekend, when I saw my family, and memories of Christmases from the years came flooding back (mostly good, but the odd bad). I love that my brother had the ceramic tree and plum puddin place out ( that was our dad's Christmas village). And though our Uncle has moved, it was still like walking into his place when we were kids. He had his Christmas music playing (Boney M and his fave Anne Murray), it was all decorated and I could smell the pasties cooking. It got loud, there was a lot of laughter, and that was always Christmas.
I also got to visit with my Nanny, and that was wonderful. She's the last grandparent I have and she's always been special to me. We chatted and laughed and she had her ceramic tree out too (because I think everyone in my family had one). She can't do Christmas like she used to, and yet, it still felt like it.
I guess the moral of my story is, Christmas to me, is my family. The loud laughing fits, and the quiet chats. The memories of the past, and the ones that we make. I swear I'm not trying to be all "holier than thou" here, but I'm sharing this so maybe some one can take a step back from the chaos, take a deep breath, and remember what this holiday is all about. We go out and buy those pricey items, and it shouldn't be obligatory, it should be because we want to, to put a smile on that persons face and make them feel loved. And it shouldn't be valued by the price tag, because it's not about that. It's about you taking the time to care about some one and love some one, so you want to get them this gift, big or small, as a token of that affection... I know I just got super preachy... but that's what we were all taught this holiday was about wasn't it? When did we as a society lose that? That's the kind of Christmas I wish for you, keep that spirit in your heart, and share it where you can.
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