The holiday season is one defined in different ways by different people. People of different upbringings, social status, and religions each see the various holidays from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day in ways similar to many, but unique to each.
Thanksgiving can be a day of stress to those who prepare the meal, a day of (over)indulgence to those who eat it, and a day of giving more than just thanks to those who donate their time, money, and food to those in need. For some it’s filled with football and beer, awkward and strained gatherings with extended family or in-laws, maybe topped off with a couple of antacid tablets.
The month (more like two, now) that precedes Christmas is filled with community events, company parties, and shopping. Dirty and snowy parking lots are churned into a slippery mess, children get tired and whiny, snowmen are rolled and snowballs are thrown.
Commerce is a frenzy as many give in to the pressures from advertisements and the expectations of gift-giving; others seek the perfect gift for loved ones and friends as a truly generous reflection of their relationships.
Santa, Rudolph and Frosty pervade; those who want Christ in their Christmas often have to seek it out themselves. Those who celebrate Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or maybe even Festivus are given brief and seemingly obligatory mentions in modern holiday specials, and can be marginalized by the hard push for Christmas, no matter how hard society pushes toward “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
Some decorate, some celebrate, some are filled with cheer and others are filled with misery, irritation, or exasperation. The season can bring people together and divide them at the same time.
For me, once the Thanksgiving meal is over and the dessert dishes cleared away, I tend to keep the deep cocoon of sleepy warmth that surrounds me until Christmas and, if I can, hold on to it through to the new year.
The holidays of my youth are long gone: my sisters are off with their families in other parts of the country, my parents have found new loves, I have a wife of my own. I’ve celebrated Christmas in Maine, New York City, and the Bahamas (Nassau is great this time of year), Chanukah in New Jersey, Thanksgiving in Nevada and Mexico, and my wedding on New Year’s Eve.
The season can be very different year to year – even for me, just one single person among billions, but it brings me joy each and every time it comes around. Eating delicious – and copious amounts of – food, sampling a little cheer, ringing the bell on a frigid street corner, hunting for gifts like a good little elf, and laughing, singing, and talking of years past with friends and family make the holiday season my favorite time of year.
As I sit before my Christmas tree through the coming season, as I always do, and stare at the colored lights, the ornaments, and the packages beneath it, I will be grateful for the people in my life and the season I share with them. I hope all of you out there, in whatever way you experience the holiday season, can find ways to be grateful, too.
