In a time of economic crisis there is one thing we can be sure of: great deals on gifts for the holiday season. The one thing we can’t be sure of is getting the most of the holiday season. I am traditionally “Mr. Bah Humbug.” Recently, I have found myself in the holiday sprit. My holiday décor started to go up right after Halloween. It’s not that I’m trying to keep up with the shopping malls; I just wanted some warmer weather for putting up the lights.
I have found myself enjoying, rather than despising the holidays. It used to be the only thing I looked forward to was Black Friday, my one day a year to throw a few elbows. (Black Friday is the shopping day right after Thanksgiving for those of you who don’t get out and wait in lines outside of stores at 1:00 a.m.) As I sat there on Thanksgiving watching as one of my nieces was passed around, and the older one in her terrible twos was sent to time-out for throwing food on the floor, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. (Maybe it was because I wasn’t in time-out for a change.)
There was a sense of normalcy in a crazy, mixed up Thanksgiving. My sister recently moved from the suburbs into a building right next to El Centro. I was not looking forward to it. The suburban born and raised guy I am doesn’t like to search for parking. (Those of you who go to El Centro know why I wasn’t looking forward to it.)
Once I got to her apartment, it was home. I figured out that home is not where you live, it’s the people around you.
Now I get back to the holiday decorations. I received many decorations for the outside of my house that used to belong to an uncle. It was a Christmas marked by tragedy that started to turn my bah humbug attitude around. As I repaired the light in a plastic toy solider, that Christmas came back to me.
The uncle that was responsible for that toy solider had passed away days before Christmas 2001. The Bears where having an OK year led by Kyle Orton, and a Bears playoff game was to follow in January. We received a phone call that my uncle was in the hospital (not that uncommon of a thing he had an ongoing heart condition.) Many times he was told that this hospital visit would be his last and many times he proved the doctors wrong. It got to a point where they just gave up and said, “You will die young so get things in order.” He was 44 at the time of his death. Funeral arrangements where rushed to get them in before Christmas day.
That Christmas was a strange one. My grandparents typically spend the holiday at their winter home in Texas, but they rushed home. My uncle, who had plans to spend Christmas with his in-laws in southern Illinois, was home for the holiday. My mother, who was planning a small Christmas dinner for the family changed her plans.
The family was together over the holiday, but the nagging reason why we were all together was on the mind of everybody even though nothing was said about it.
I learned to enjoy the time spent with family instead of dreading it, even if spending that time takes you into an area with little parking. You never know if it may be the last holiday you see Grandpa, Aunt Marie, or in my case, Uncle Ron.
This past Thanksgiving holiday I had an opportunity to watch football and food being thrown on the floor. The football was more exciting, but the food on the floor made this Thanksgiving special. As I get older, I lose family and I gain others, but wherever my family is will always be home. Good luck and try to survive finals. Happy Holidays, and next year it starts all over.