Holiday Season....Cheers and Tears....

I have been thinking about this post for some time now. I guess with the holiday celebrations around the corner, I have been thinking about the celebrations of Christmas past. Baking cookies and decorating them all by hand...the cookie as our canvas and icing as our paint. Painting them with a brush and decorating with sprinkles. My aunt and I baked many goodies during the holiday season....coconut bonbons, sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, peppermint patties, bourbon balls, banana bread...the list goes on and on. (She did most of it, I was just a 'helper'. She is amazing in the kitchen!)

Listening to carols while making crafts for the church bazaar....My favorite 'carolers' are Brenda Lee, Burl Ives (who I believed was the "real" Santa Claus...well, he did look like it!), and many of the other classics. Every time I hear "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", I think of those wonderful times with my Aunt.

On Christmas Eve, we would go up to the Church and hear the story of Jesus' birth. Father Roy would read the story. Even when I was older, I always enjoyed hearing Roy Gene tell the story. Then, we would go down to the parish hall and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and eat birthday cake that my aunt made. Then, we would go home and Mamaw and Aunt Jordan would prepare a feast for the family....open faced roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy...veggies...and all the fixin's. Then, we always had coconut cake (that Aunt Jordan made...what can I say? the women in my family can COOK!!!). My Uncle Joe always had cake with fruit salad instead...he doesn't like coconut. He washed it down with a glass of milk with ICE!!! (He is the only person in the world that I know that drinks milk with ICE in it!!!)

Then, the table was cleared and the dishes were cleaned. As a kid, I remember that this seemed to take an ETERNITY!!! Gifts could not be opened until AFTER the dishes were done. I usually bounced around the living room in excitement and anticipation. (My heart races just thinking about it.)

So, finally, my aunt would bring the gifts up to the living room from the downstairs. (They had to keep my presents hidden...I was a shaker and "present detective"...always wanting to know what I got before I opened it!) Then, I would open gift after gift.....I was really spoiled...errrr ummm blessed...Yeah, that's it....blessed. Looking back on it I really feel guilty. Granted, there were kids that got more than I did, but I still got much more than I needed. Maybe I shouldn't feel so guilty...my family did it because they loved me...and they wanted to spoil me....but I can't help feeling like I was a spoiled little brat. (That's because, many times, I was.... I got gifts on Christmas Eve from my family, a HUGE stocking on Christmas morning, and then I still got gifts from my mom and dad, too! (There were a lot of traditions...going to Nana and Granddad's, Christmas Eve at Mamaw and Papaw's, Christmas Mornings at Mom (step) and Dad's. Things changed as lives changed... Too confusing to go into all of it. It confuses me and I lived it!)

This was supposed to be cheerful and here I am being gloomy.....I just can't get over the thought that there are so many people out there that are not as blessed as I am. I have a wonderful home, a great family, a rewarding job, and I have a lot going for me. So, I hope that this season I will do more to help those in need. I have already given my annual gift to the March of Dimes, and we are collecting money at work for a person in need, and I have dropped money into the red bucket every time I see a bellringer. But, it still feels like I am not doing enough. I saw a segment on GMA this morning about Target and the Salvation Army teaming up to get items to families in need, many of the families were victims of Katrina. One child asked for a lantern....another asking for pajamas. A LANTERN and PJ's??? That's what they want? Not asking for Ralph Lauren PJ's or something outrageous or pricey or trendy. Just everyday things. It breaks my heart. I will try to stop crying long enough to log on and buy a few things today. (Marketing side note: GMA - You know what 'heart tugging' segments are all about. It worked!)

One step further is that I think of the people who do not have their families for the holidays...our soldiers overseas and their families....the victims of Katrina....people who have lost loved ones from a variety of causes. I have lost some members of my family, my nana (paternal grandmother) and Papaw (maternal grandfather), but I am blessed to have many of my family members still around to celebrate the holidays.

Many of my friends have had family and friends pass throughout year. Holidays are always difficult after a loved one's passing When people pass, the holidays don't feel the same....celebrations are changed...traditions are transformed into something new and strange... The traditional routine of the holidays change...and so do the emotions that are felt during the season.

I am going to spend as much time as I can with my family this holiday season and througout the year. Because, as I am reminded often, people that are here today, may not be tomorrow. So, spend as much time as you can with them. Enjoy them and celebrate them.

Not only is this holiday season a joyous time, but it can also be stressful, depressing, and akward. So, in your prayers, please remember those who are celebrating their holiday in a different way...that they will find comfort in the memories of holidays past, and find renewal in new traditions and in the new year...that there are good things to come...and that the people who are not with them physically are there spiritually.

My prayers are with everyone this holiday season. That your celebrations will be that....a celebration...of life, joy, and togetherness.