Christmas…My Way

I’ve always loved Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday and growing up, we celebrated it in a myriad of fun ways. One year, my hippie mother decided to decorate a shrub outside as our Christmas tree with strands of cranberries and popcorn. You know, Christmas for the wildlife. Another year, my great-aunt drank too much eggnog and threw everyone out of her house in a fit of anger.

And then there was the time we decided to institute a new tradition and go water-skiing on Christmas Day after the afternoon meal. That lasted approximately one year. Even in Florida, the water is too damned cold in the winter for such nonsense.

 

When I was very young, my beloved grandfather used to take me to get my picture taken with Santa at Southgate shopping center, in Lakeland. This is the shopping center

where the movie ‘Edward Scissorhands’ was filmed, and Santa commanded a regal chair situated underneath the iconic arch. The event signaled the beginning of a wondrous and joyful holiday season.

 

As the years went by, and family members came and went, traditions changed. When I lived in Washington State, the ex and I would host a Christmas open house every year, and I would spend days decorating for the event. It was the highlight of the season, to be sure.

When things went south for my ex and me, it was at this time of year. I knew 2012 would be the last Christmas I would spend in Washington State, and it broke my heart because I had really created a wonderful and immersive new life outside of Florida.

I moved back to Florida in early 2013, and my first Christmas alone was very painful. I didn’t even have a tree, much less a reason to celebrate the season. Imagine my surprise, then, when I received a package from Washington State from my former belly dance sisters, the Sultana Dancers. They had come together to make me a care package of homemade ornaments, a cork wreath, stocking, and a beautiful storage box for all the heartfelt goodies! I was touched beyond words, and decorated my artificial palm tree in their honor that year!

That year, some close friends of mine instituted our own tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve at a local Chinese restaurant, (in honor of the movie, “Christmas Story” of course) and afterward, we would take in the local sights and sounds of Christmas scattered throughout our hometown. That tradition lasted a couple of years, and then quietly fizzled out as people went about their lives.

I still couldn’t bring myself to buy a tree, though, until this year. I can’t say what changed, except I could feel my heart thaw a little. I think adopting a rescue dog had a lot to do with that, as did losing so many people near and dear to me this year,  but at any rate, I just knew I had to have a tree to help symbolize the gratitude I felt for still being able to walk this earth.

So I got a tree. And decorated it with love and care, like I did in years’ past. I treated Coco and myself to a couple of personalized ornaments to celebrate the occasion, as well as personalized stockings. The house is large, so I also got a dedicated mini tree to showcase my belly dance treasures, as well as another one to balance the ambiance in the second living room.

All of this decorating brought back a flood of Christmas spirit. I have a dear friend who is struggling right now with a myriad of issues, and I am sharing some of that spirit with her this week, hoping to lift her up as my friends in Washington lifted me as she begins a new chapter in her life at this time.

So now I have this nice tree, but no one to buy presents for anymore, except for Coco. What to do? I decided to start a brand new tradition, Kim-style.

I made a list of 12 things I want to do in 2018; things larger than I usually do. Things like, “Make an appreciable donation to the Shriner’s Hospital”, or do the same for the “Martin Truex Jr Foundation”, and things like “Go Visit my Family in NC, etc.” Things I’ve really wanted to do, but have put off, mainly due to time and financial constraints. I printed each one out on a homemade voucher, cut them out individually and randomly (without looking) stuffed one each into 12 envelopes, for each month of the upcoming year.  On the 1st of each month, I’ll open that envelope, and plan accordingly to meet each goal.

Seems like a worthy way to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas, right? Being grateful for the blessings in one’s life, no matter the circumstance, and to share the gratitude with others? I get it. It’s taken years, but I am finally “home”.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of my dear friends and family. And may the joy of the season be yours for years to come.

Love,

Kim and Coco