Christmas is a powerful and important time of year for
me.
Regardless of how much I might or might not go to church
over the course of a year, much of the magic that Christmas holds for me comes
from that spiritual side.
There’s also a more human spiritual side to Christmas. The
ideas that it is a time for family, for love, and for selflessness of one
degree or another. It’s also a time for reflection. Many of the elements of
Christmas lend themselves to a certain amount of introspection and
self-examination. Having been brought up with Santa Claus, I can’t help but
start thinking about the Naughty and Nice lists this time of year, despite the
fact that I am too old for Saint Nick to bring me presents.
Have I helped others? Have I been the best father I can
be? Have I been the best husband? Have others benefitted from knowing me and
have I created meaningful relationships not just with others, but between
others? Am I, in my own little ways, progressing the growth and connections of
humanity? After all, even if it is only in small increments, if we all end up
friends doesn’t that start to break down barriers and bring an understanding of
differences?
I talk to lots of different people that believe different
things from me. I think many of them are entirely wrong about a lot of the
things they believe. But they believe them for the right reasons, and I never
would have known that without talking to them and getting to know them. And
we’re all human, so there’s always
common ground.
Have I shared common ground with enough people?
The answer to all of those things is, of course, “No –
not enough”. I haven’t taken every opportunity and I haven’t been as tolerant
as I could be. But this is the time of year to think about those things and be
conscious of who we are and how we might affect other people’s lives. I’m not
saying you have to go around bringing joy to everyone you meet – that would be
exhausting – but we could try not to bring misery. I think that’s enough, much
of the time.
With all of that being said, I also want to talk about
Christmas presents. Because Christmas presents are AWESOME.
While all of the spiritual stuff helped to make Christmas
a special time of year unlike any other, I’d be lying if I said that anything
other than presents was the best thing about Christmas.
All of my fondest toy memories have their roots on
December 25th of varying years. Megos, the Millennium Falcon, the
USS Flagg, the Ewok Village, and countless others came from that incredible
day. Nothing in my young life matched the joy of being with my family and
having my mind blown by whatever Jolly Old Saint Nick had left under the tree.
The day would start with me (or later my sister) waking
my parents up at the crack of dawn, barely able to contain my excitement. I
still remember that feeling of practically vibrating with joy and expectation. And
the ritual was always the same – Dad would get his camera (or later video
camera) and go downstairs to turn on the lights and some Christmas music.
Eventually he would call upstairs. Sometimes, “Well, I don’t see anything down
here” and sometimes “I don’t remember you being this good this year”. But
always some little quip that would fill me with fear and make my heart skip a
beat. Had Santa really left nothing? Had
I been bad?
But of course, every year I would run down the stairs and
discover a veritable Scrooge McDuck Money Bin of toys, books, clothes, and
whatever else. Those first early hours of the day would always be about
discovering the loot left by Santa while Mom and Dad looked on, drinking coffee
and “oohing” and “aahing”.
After we had taken in as much of the magic as we needed,
we would all eat the breakfast Mom had cooked- often a good old country
breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuits, and grits. It was so hard to sit there and
eat like a normal person while knowing that TIE Fighters needed to be assembled
and Nintendo Entertainment System games needed to be tried. And also knowing
that there was more to come.
The stockings were next. Every year on Christmas Eve we
hung our stockings by the chimney (with care). The next morning they would be
moved to some other locale and filled – often to overflowing – with the smaller
stuff . Candy, Kronoform watches, Turtles gift tokens, and all manner of
tchotchke that was deliriously fun to discover but that would be forgotten by
the next day more often than not. Oh, and batteries. Everyone always got
batteries.
I would always divide my stocking loot up into “actual
toys/useful items” and “other”.
After the stocking it was time for the family gifts,
which for me were almost as exciting as Santa because not only did I get even more stuff, I got to see how
everyone reacted to the gifts I had gotten for them (or that Dad/Mom had picked
out). There was ritual here, too. One of us would distribute the various gifts
– from our immediate family, as well as aunts, uncles, family friends - while
the others took up positions throughout the living room. I’d be lying if I said
I wasn’t sitting there closely observing the relative size of everyone else’s
presents and accumulated piles.
Once everything was properly distributed, we’d take turns
unwrapping. Granny, Papaw, Mom, Dad, my sister, and me would each pay the
proper respects to every new gift revealed, while our dog, Sam, would gleefully
chase the wrapping paper that we wadded up and threw around the room.
I never had happier days with my family. Admittedly, a
lot of it was about the presents, but what I didn’t realize at the time was
that it was about us being together and sharing joy.
And then I got older and things changed. Eventually you
get to that age where Santa stops coming. You question your parents. You are
mostly annoyed by your family. Very little from your childhood makes sense
anymore because the real world is slowly sucking away your sense of wonder and
your ability to experience pure joy. Those teenage and young adult years could
be hard, but around Christmas I always found a way to make it special. Whether
I was alone or trying in vain to make someone else happy, it was always the
time of year to do the stuff I wrote about in those opening paragraphs.
And now it is once again a time for family. Now I am the
one that gets the camera and is the first downstairs. Now I am the one looking
for opportunities to create joy and surprises. Now I am – as grandiose as it
may sound – the one with the responsibility to keep Christmas special. And
doing that brings me joy greater than any I have ever known (even greater than
the USS Flagg; sacrilege, I know).
Sometimes and some years it is harder than others. And I
look ahead knowing that we have precious few Christmases remaining for Santa
visits. Just the thought of that is almost too much to bear. But on Christmas
morning, we will all be together and we will celebrate our love and our hope
for the future (and we will open a ton of presents).
Whatever your beliefs may be, I hope each and every one
of you can find and make your own kind of joy this year.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful family, Phantom.
ReplyDeleteBobby
Thanks, Bobby! Happy New Year!
DeleteAwesome words, man! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks, man! Happy New Year to you!
Delete