How Did We Do?

The party is over. The holidays and all the hoopla are behind us. How did we measure up? How did it measure up? As we moved through the chaos of December, our wheels spun faster and faster and threatened to come off. Finally, the new year is here, and you can almost feel a collective sigh of relief. We made it through another one. The pressure is off. At least until next year.

For some, getting into the holiday spirit when you live in sunny Florida is hard. We have palm trees instead of evergreen trees. Sprinkles of white lights covering bushes snuggled up against a house are the closest thing to snow. Most of us would not trade our sunny Florida lifestyle for the cold, snowy Christmases of our past.

Our Christmas was a good one. As always, the season was a mixed bag of good, bad, glad, and sad. The holidays are a time for memories. Memories of our own childhood Christmases, and then later with our own young families. Close friends gather for holiday hugs and to stop for a moment and think of those who are not with us this year. Once a year, my mind wanders back to my little girl Christmases when we put up a tree on Christmas Eve, and somehow, during the night, Santa decorated it and left presents. I remember Christmases when my three boys were little. Every Christmas even more Matchbox cars appeared under the Christmas tree. There were never enough Matchbox cars! Some things never change. My youngest grandson is as fascinated with Matchbox cars as his father once was. As my son shares, “Anything with wheels!”

Our family is geographically spread out and celebrate each in their own homes. We choose to have get-togethers that are less intense and work into everyone’s schedules. Christmas wishes and photos are texted and emailed as we each share our own Christmas day.

Interestingly, our Christmas gifts reflected our increasing dependence on technology. Many of our gifts require charging. The pile of charging cords is increasing and will join a tangled knot in our “tech” drawer. A predictable number of things will go back to Mother Amazon for exchange or return because they just missed the target.

So how to find the magic of Christmas? Just be around children. Watch as small children look at Santa with wonder and concern about the climbing in his lap thing. Or the look of surprise as children see big Christmas trees heavy with lights come alive. Or the priceless facial expression as a present is opened, and it is exactly what was asked of Santa.

 
Holidays magnify emotions, and good memories are mixed with tough memories. We make the best of it by giving and appreciating the getting. Especially at this time of year, the Big Guy and I are thankful for our families and another holiday season with all its expected and unexpected magical moments.