A Reminder

I wasn’t going to decorate for Christmas this year.

In fact, I was going to go one step further and not celebrate it at all.

With everything that’s gone on recently, celebrating a festive holiday such as Christmas… Well, I just didn’t think I had it in me.

As I’m unemployed, there will be no presents. And because the miniscule amount of family that we do have is at least half a continent away, it will (like always) be just the two of us at our holiday dinner table.

In the past, I’ve always made an effort to celebrate holidays – despite whatever chaos was going on in our lives at the time. (Financial concerns, layoffs, lack of family, etc.)

But this year… It all just seemed like such a hassle. Hauling out the holiday boxes, digging through the decorations, setting up and trimming the tree… When considering all this, the only thing I could think of was, Ugh. We’re going to have to take all this crap down in a month. Why put it up at all? And no one will be here to see it, anyway…

One night in early November, I mentioned my reluctance Chris. Channeling my inner lawyer, I argued my case. “I’m the one who decorates every year anyway and why bother because it’s just the two of us – well three if you count D but she doesn’t know the difference – and we just have to take it all back down again after the New Year which, by the way, is a huge hassle, and we’re not going to be able to do gifts – again – this year, so why bother…”

My run-on argument went on and on. And on.

And Chris agreed. Or so I thought.

Until last Friday, when I walked out of the bedroom to find our surprisingly realistic pre-lit Christmas tree half assembled – and Chris standing next to it, happily fiddling with the one strand that always refuses to light.

He hugged me, passed me a box of ornaments, and shrugged. “Two people constitute a family.”

So for the rest of Black Friday, we decorated. We listened to Christmas music, reminisced over each ornament we placed on the tree, and hung our holiday stockings. I draped the fireplace mantel with a ten foot roll of yummy sweet-smelling cedar garland while Chris wrapped twinkling white lights around our garage door.

It’s important to make the best with what you have. To appreciate what you do have instead of focusing on what you don’t. I know this. I do. I’ve written about it before. But, like every other important lesson in life, it can be easy to forget. Sometimes you just need some help remembering.

Thank you, Chris, for reminding me.

So am I now completely caught up in the holiday spirit? Not entirely. But I’m getting there.

** Enjoy a delicious rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by She & Him. (And, well, who doesn't love a little She & Him??!) :)

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"Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times."
-- Kate L. Bosher