Seen any reindeer bikers lately? On my walk today (taking my own advice to get out and walk to aid my writing process), I saw this happy-go-lucky reindeer pushing the pedals. Yes, folks, there is no end, it seems, to creating unusual Christmas yard ornaments. It could be worse, I imagine. Given I live in Florida, there could’ve been a snowman dressed in a bikini. But besides making fun of expensive frivolity, I’m writing to wish you all a happy holiday season. And also, a coming year, that, in any way you need it to be, is better than the last. For those of us worried about the state of the U.S., that’s a big wish. Please now forgive me, this post was not intended to be political. So much for my good intentions.
What’s your reason for the season?
When I was little, Christmas was a time for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I was raised as a Roman Catholic. Our family tended to all the Catholic rituals from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I don’t imagine they’ve changed much (except for some modifications after the Second Vatican Council) but I have. At this stage of life, I’m not a religious person, but I do find solace in the contemplative aspect of spirituality that infused my Catholic upbringing. Anyway, in my family back then, leading up to Christmas was a segment of time called Advent, where the altar at St. Francis de Sales Catholic church was trimmed in purple. Purple was everywhere, it seemed, and even tinged each picture on the Advent calendar. I just saw ads for those calendars online. They’ve got all sorts of designs these days, even one touted like this: “Open a window each day during Advent to find a piece of premium milk chocolate!” Boy, times have changed! Wish we’d had those in my day. Is chocolate a good reason for the season? I know that Hoyt, my husband, for one, would say YES!
Parties and cookies and trees, oh my!
Christmas also meant decorating a real live evergreen tree with ornaments that had been in our family for years. The aluminum foil star covered in plastic was a relic from bygone years. Every year, Dad stood on a ladder and affixed it, despite its decrepitude, atop the tree. Dad had trudged up and down the attic stairs carrying boxes of decorations and we hung them, along with lights of primary colors that flickered on and off, depending on how loosely they were screwed in their sockets. Mom made cookie-cutter style cookies—bells, trees, stars, circles—and stuffed dark brown dates with nuts, then rolled them in sugar. I ate many of each delicacy without guilt. Oh, those were the days … I know this is starting to sound like Leave It To Beaver, but believe me, that was not us! For one thing, Mom worked outside the home. For another, I was often a brat.
When I wasn’t being a brat, for gifts, sometimes my sister and I stuck fresh cloves all over oranges, wrapped them in netting, then tied them with ribbons. They were our version of spice-scented closet fresheners. Did your family make those, too? Or were we just weirdos? After a month or two, the oranges would shrivel up and the spice scent ebbed away. Oh well. We’d recycle the ribbons. These are the memories that come to the surface today. As for most people, there are MANY more down in the Christmas storage bin. But for now, this is what they mean to me: at the heart of all this ornamental ritual, fruit repurposing, and sugar ingestion, no doubt, was a feeling of connection. A feeling of reverence for something bigger than ourselves; an awe towards our concept of what God was (it has changed for me over the years, but that’s another blog), and an acknowledgement of how we loved each other. That feeling extended to an active thankfulness for friends we’d visit for Christmas parties, and the kindness-filled comradery we experienced with churchgoers at the annual Christmas bazaar. A sense of caring made the season bright.
Good reason for the season
I say let’s keep that active love towards others as a good reason for the season, no matter our religious traditions or lack thereof. At the risk of sounding cliché, isn’t love the greatest gift of all? To me, that’s what puts the spice in life. That’s what this season and any season contrived by humankind is for: showing love whenever and however possible.
Warmest wishes to you and your loved ones
So with love in our hearts for you, dear subscribers, from our house to yours, Hoyt and I send you best wishes for a happy holiday season and a meaningful new year filled with love. No matter what.
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Mary DiMartino
Thanks Charlene, for redefining or rather reminding me that connection, thankfulness and love is what’s it’s all about. Life sometimes throws a curveball and I can let it get me down. I appreciate your words and sending good thoughts. Happy holidays to you too! Mary
Charlene L. Edge
Hi Mary,
So glad to hear that anything I might write reaches an interested reader like you who gets something good from reading my random expressions …
Cheers for a happy 2018,
Charlene
Randy G
Merry Christmas to you and Hoyt! Hopefully we can endure the terrible winter this year in central Florida. Brrrrr!
Charlene L. Edge
Hey there, Randy. Look forward to seeing you in the new year. Yeah, bundle up for the coming snow storm. You heard about it, right? 🙂
Rob Ruff
Your “Holiday Cheer” brought back my own (mostly) fond memories of Christmas, as well as the weeks leading up to it. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas, Charlene and Hoyt!
Charlene L. Edge
Happiest of holidays to you and yours, Rob. Thanks for checking in here.
Cheers!
Linda Goddard
Thank you, Charlene, for your genuine holiday reflections and for providing your readers an opportunity to contribute holiday comments, however holidays are experienced.
I do have a few memories of pleasant holidays, such as the Christmas my neighborhood girlfriends and I got Patty Play Pal dolls for Christmas and gathered outside on our freezing sidewalks to show off our dolls with fresh pink and white pinafore dresses, white ruffle-trimmed socks and, I think, black patten leather shoes.
This sweet memory is in spite of what was also true:
I did not have television parents and our Christmases were mostly not ones TV producers would have shown for a national audience, unless they wanted to horrify all the Ozzie and Harriet families and those who pretended to be.
And I was not a television little girl. I was a girl who didn’t have a clue how to participate in my parents’ insistence on family denials: nothing’s wrong here, stop being so dramatic, no matter what happens in this house, stays in this house.
I was the child who Anne Lamott describes herself as when she was a child: the nervious, overly sensitive one in the family, always causing trouble, and asking ridiculous, irritating questions about our family.
I told all my thoughts to my dolls and prayed they’d all come alive, and, I guess, in some way, they were alive for me those years.
Charlene L. Edge
Dear Linda,
What a mystery memory is, right? I hope your writing about the past helps relieve the pain that so often surfaces when triggered by the holidays. There’s a lot of that for me, too, that I left out of this blog, but I remember a Raggedy Ann doll my mother made and gave me for Christmas once. She even stitched on a little red heart embroidered with “I love you.” I still have it.
See you soon!
Carol Giampaolo
My childhood Christmas memories were simple. dad brought home a long needle pine tree on Christmas eve, we put a few home made ornaments on before bed. Excited we went to bed before our 9:00 pm bed time. Early to rise about 6:00 am. We each got a new outfit, and one toy. We enjoyed the nuts and oranges under the tree. Dad cooked a wonderful meal. Proceeded to get drunk, took a nap after said meal. In my adult home we grew new traditions for our children, more material and overdone my way of redoing my memories to my wants. Now our adult children are all minimalists and do things so differently, which I now like cause it is so much less work or worry, we spend cherished time together. I always loved the energy and Joyfulness of the Holiday, good moods and cheerful peoples. May we all find Love and Peace Each Day.
Charlene L. Edge
Hi Carol,
Thanks for sharing here. Interesting how minimalism comes and goes with the generations … these days, our holiday is minimal, too. Simple. That is to my liking.
Best wishes for a happy 2018,
Charlene
Linda Goddard
Hi Again, Charlene,
Just a note to say that the comments on your blog remind me to share how much I treasure my minimalist holiday seasons these last several years: cherished time with family and friends, nourishing and affirming each other with our stories and lives.
I’m grateful for all comments posted here ?