Christmas Past, and Present

 

Christmas, Past and Present

Christmas Day feels like the day after Thanksgiving. It’s quiet and lazy. We celebrate our fondue dinner the night before and with dishes done and plenty of leftover filet and veggies and sauces in the fridge, our Christmas dinner is almost made. My daughter-in-law spends the holiday with her family (from a first marriage) and I miss her. She graciously doesn’t insist my son be with her, so John and I while away our day – jig saw puzzle, backgammon, watching the Warriors.

We have a goy (goy is a term for non-Jewish for those who don’t know Yiddish) take on lox and bagels for breakfast. Smoked salmon, jalapeno pepper cream cheese, red onion and capers on homemade crostini appeals to me more than a bagel and smear. A fruit plate and lots of coffee and we’re good until dinner.

Christmas Days in the past weren’t so simple. We opened gifts from our, out of the state, families on Christmas Eve and…...there were a lot of them! So many, in fact that my older son, at age four asked if he could please, not finish opening presents and go to bed. My dreams of him becoming another Mr. Nordstrom were shattered. I could relate, but going to bed wasn’t an option. We still had Santa duty. I was never crazy about the big Santa lie. Happily the kids figured it out quite early getting no argument from me.

It was Christmas in the late 60’s when we were living, the supposedly perfect suburban life, in Sunnyvale. It seemed as if all of our neighbors had two sons around the same age as ours. The first gifts to be opened that morning were 49er uniforms……..shoulder pads, helmets and football. Donning the regalia was lightening quick and out the door they were! Hmm…..football scholarships in the future?! They were out for what seemed like hours and there we were with the unopened books and crafts and hot wheels – if only we had known!

Lots of changes over the years and I must admit that I’m definitely enjoying the calm of the present holiday. Do we need the stress of shopping, cooking, spending more money, rushing through traffic to allow ourselves the peace and calm on Christmas Day. Perhaps we should try to enjoy the peace without having the stress. Is it possible? I will ponder this after I pour myself a glass of wine.

Henry’s take: Call me Scrooge – I really hate Christmas. My person is wound tight and her son comes for a stay so I need to share my room. When I see the leaves go in the dining room table, I know we’re in for chaos for the next few days. Bah, Humbug!