If there is one time of the year I love the most it’s the time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas… The Holiday season. Everyone puts up their Christmas trees, Christmas lights light up the streets, everywhere you go there is Christmas music playing… I even brought the Christmas spirit to our little house on the prairie by putting up a tree… There’s nothing better than lying on the couch next to the love of my life with the glow of the Christmas tree filling the room up with warmth. Something about the Holidays leaving me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
But despite that great feeling Christmas leaves me with… One thing is very different this year. This will be the first year in my existence in this world that I will not be spending Christmas with my family. I won’t be there to listen to Christmas music with my mom as we hang ornaments on the tree. I won’t be there to reminisce about the past when I find my first Christmas ornament and hang it on the tree. I won’t be there to enjoy the look on my families faces as they open the gifts I sent to them, I won’t be there Christmas eve for the stories with my aunt, uncle, and cousin and laugh until my sides hurt, Christmas morning I won’t be there to open presents that Mom still sets aside from “Santa”… The traditions of the past 25 years of my life will be broken.
Another thing that is also different… This year marks the first year I will be enjoying the Holidays outside of the retail market. One cannot even describe the stress that is getting a butcher shop prepared for Christmas. Prime ribs, hams, turkeys, bacon, sausage…. I could go on and on. And then you’ve got lines of people to help. My parents are so blessed in their business to do as well as they do. Although the economy may be tanking, people still have to eat on Christmas. And although I don’t miss the intense stress… I felt a little tinge of guilt. I listen to my mom and my coworkers give me the Christmas play-by-play, unwinding and unloading from the day…And I feel bad for not being there. But even beyond that, I miss being able to wish all of my regular customer’s Merry Christmas. Being wrapped up in the Christmas spirit, donning my Christmas earrings, green apron, red shirt, and reindeer horns. I didn’t wrap any prime ribs this year, instead I bought one to cook for Christmas Eve.
Change is difficult. Change is tough. These realities are hard for me to swallow. But this year marks the beginning of a new chapter, and with that comes change. Instead, I put up the first Christmas tree our house has seen. I have a wonderful feast planned for Christmas eve. I will be spending Christmas surrounded by Mark’s wonderful family. We will be enjoying a white Christmas with temperatures not even reaching 5 degrees. But most of all, I have a man whom is my best friend, he makes me laugh, he makes me smile… He worries about me, he provides for me. And he can’t be summed up in so few of words. Well.. you all know, he’s my everything. So although this Christmas season may be a little bittersweet. I cannot help but thank God for the wonderful blessings He’s brought into my life. Life has changed radically in just the span of one year. And it has gone beyond anything I could have ever dreamed. The new chapter has been started, written. And I’ve got the pen in my hand. It may be different… It may be bittersweet… But it’s only the beginning. And who knows what each year will bring…?
Merry Christmas to everyone. I wish you all health, happiness, and blessings this Holiday season. I hope you all spend it with family, friends, and loved ones celebrating your faith, eating some good food, and of course spending some time telling those close to you what they really mean to you.
4 Comments