When I tell someone I don’t know what I’m doing for Christmas, I usually get a look somewhere between confusion and sympathy. Or that perhaps I didn’t understand the question. Well meaning people tell me how they think I should spend it. And I’m lucky enough to have a close circle of friends who would gladly welcome me into their homes. I know many are not so fortunate and the holidays are truly a troubling time.
I come from a large extended family and Christmas was quite a rambunctious affair. Loud and full house of laughter and food. Norman Rockwell stuff – complete with an occasional argument about politics or football (football being the more polarizing of the two). As my generation of siblings and cousins started having their own families – new traditions were built and people started forming in their new hives across a wide stretch of geography.
My new traditions are smaller and simpler, but no less important. More often than not (with at least one COVID interruption), I spend Christmas Eve with my sister’s family who are all nearby. It’s become a special time for me and one that I look forward to every year. The time between Christmas and New Year’s includes gathering with friends in smaller and more casual settings that feel slower paced that the normal flurry of the year. These days I’m more spiritual than religious, but the end of the year is still a natural time for introspection. And I’ve made a new personal goal of taking at least one trip in the last couple weeks of the year to someplace I enjoy – the last three years being Santa Fe, Chicago, & New York.
Why am I sharing all this? My point is that there is no “right” way to do Christmas and we don’t need to rationalize or explain. I often joke – or at least I think it’s a joke – that my Christmas tree is in the lobby of the Driskill Hotel. Wishing peace and happiness to you and yours no matter how you choose to spend it.
Merry Christmas
