|
|
 |
|
with the Christmas Rush  Multi-Tasking at Christmas time |
Even when it overwhelms
you, there's joy in it!
of TheColumnists.com
At Church the other day a conversation in the parking lot made my day. It was Christmas one-upmanship but in reverse:
“How’s Christmas going?" I asked my friends. “I’m still wrapping a gift that has to be mailed.”
“I don’t have any decorations up,” one friend one-upped me.
“And I haven’t even bought my Christmas cards!” the other friend trumped.
I love holidays and there’s none better than Christmas, but it seems to take more and more time each year to complete all its demanding tasks: make gifts, buy gifts, bake lots of cookies to give as gifts, decorate (can’t have a Grinchy house), compose eye-catching newsletter that people will read instead of putting it aside like a catalog, mail packages that cost more to ship than the cost of the contents. But I love these tasks once I get into them. However, a concert, a grandkid show or a friend get-together can make me put the duties aside any day.
To keep myself going, I recall the year that I had a close to full-time job, was caring for my mom while she was recovering from an accident, enduring a kitchen remodel, and having my daughter’s friend visit from Australia. I managed all the tasks. However, the cookie work was reduced to one batch – the day the kitchen was complete.
There would be no cause for Christmas guilt if I started in October as the stores would like us to do, but I stand on principle: Each holiday should stand alone and be savored for what it is, not as the gateway to a bigger holiday. So, I don’t think about Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving.
But this year in spirit Thanksgiving smudged into Christmas.
I received a chirpy newsletter from a friend, telling about their trip to Italy and how her husband went sky diving to celebrate his 75th birthday. Problem was, my friend admitted in the letter, he’d been having bouts of vertigo ever since, maybe as an after-effect. I chuckled. Maybe so, but a frisson of danger races the blood and keeps him young at heart.
The next day I received a heart-stopping e-mail. She said her husband went to the doctor. He has an inoperable brain tumor.
I wondered, should she have waited for his visit to the doctor before sending the letter? My mother warned that it was presumptuous to do things too far in advance. Tempts fate.
But I love that my friend and her husband shared their wonderful year, the good things like family, travel, being fanatic football fans, hang gliding. They sharing their joy, knowing, as we all do, that our situations can change in a heartbeat.
I want my eight-year-old granddaughter Emily to know this, as I think she already does. Early this month I went to her house and the tree was half decorated. With the ennui that comes from “Senioritis”, her 17-year-old sister explained, “Emily is crazy about Christmas. She puts some ornaments on the tree every morning before school.”
Emily and I looked at each other with the intensity of making a pledge. “Christmas is my favorite holiday,” she said solemnly.
“I hope that all your life you will always love Christmas,” I replied.
“I will, Grannie.”
That was rejuvenating. On with the cookie baking. On with shipping gifts, even though they’ll arrive after Christmas. Joy in the moment, remembering what/who you love and why – that’s the best gift.
©2011 by Joyce Kiefer. This column first posted Dec. 19, 2011.
TO ACCESS JOYCE KIEFER'S ARCHIVE OF COLUMNS ON THIS SITE, CLICK HERE: KIEFER ARCHIVE.
You
can comment on this column online via our TALKBACK page. Please address youre-mail message
to either "The Editors" or Joyce Kiefer and send to
Syndpack@aol.com
|
|
|
Archives |
|
|