I will admit, I'm a little homesick this Christmas. I think not being able to see my friends and family so easily this year has made me especially miss them right now. This is nothing like the Christmas I spent in L.A. where I actually had to work on Christmas eve night and Christmas day and a customer told me to F off (I'm thinking karma has bit that guy in the ass several times by now). My sister Maggie tried to make things as homey and comforting as possible and I'll always be grateful to her for that but it was rough. This year is really not anything close to that but I still feel pangs of missing the traditions my family used to have around this time of year. It's funny because when I think back on my favorite Christmas memories I'm surprised to find that they are not of my childhood but of my adulthood. I guess maybe when you are a kid, everything sort of blends together and becomes a blur - a wondrous, magical blur but still a blur.
When I was in high school and my brothers in college, we used to do a stocking exchange where we picked a name out of a hat every year and then bought goofy stuff to fill that stocking with - without fail every year my brother Jimmy got my Dad and acted like he was pissed when secretly, he loved it(obviously it was rigged). I remember piling up the presents under the tree according to family, I remember watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve and taking a shot every time old man Potter's name is mentioned (don't try this at home kids..you WILL be hungover on Christmas day), I remember watching corny old Christmas specials on tv when I got home from school (that Bernstein bears one really doesn't stand the test of time), I remember eating greasy Chinese food after coming back from church on Christmas eve. When I think about all of these things now, it makes me miss sitting in my childhood home with the glow of the tree in the background, the woodsy smell of pine in the air and the comfort of knowing everything was as it should be. The missing isn't so much a sad feeling but more of a longing for my life to be as comforting and reassuring as it was then.
Even when I graduated college and moved out of the house, my roommates and I started traditions of our own - we spiked our eggnog and decorated the Christmas tree and made up our own words to "O Christmas Tree."
And then of course one of my favorite memories of all: my friend John and I making up different theories while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" (Harry Bailey as the devil is still to this day, my favorite). I was just talking to John the other day - I have known him for over 20 years and even though we sometimes go very long stretches without talking, when we do connect, its like no time at all has passed. Those are the best and most precious kind of friends and I'm lucky to have more than one in my life. Anyway, we were talking about how both of our significant others really don't like "It's a Wonderful Life" because its corny and he said that in an age where the Kardasians is the most watched show on TV, "corny" is refreshing and I couldn't agree more. Even if it is overly sentimental, I'll take the movie that was made in the 1940s but still has deep and true meaning over a reality show that no one will have heard of 5 years from now. I don't care how sappy anyone thinks it is, it is real and gets right to the heart of what our society is missing today - an appreciation for valuables that are not tangibles - friendship, love, loyalty and a touch of magic.
Even though I miss everyone that I have mentioned in this post, I am lucky to have such good friends and loving family so on Christmas eve when my husband and I are drinking champagne in the glow of our cute little table top tree, I will toast to fond memories and hope for good things to come.
When I was in high school and my brothers in college, we used to do a stocking exchange where we picked a name out of a hat every year and then bought goofy stuff to fill that stocking with - without fail every year my brother Jimmy got my Dad and acted like he was pissed when secretly, he loved it(obviously it was rigged). I remember piling up the presents under the tree according to family, I remember watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve and taking a shot every time old man Potter's name is mentioned (don't try this at home kids..you WILL be hungover on Christmas day), I remember watching corny old Christmas specials on tv when I got home from school (that Bernstein bears one really doesn't stand the test of time), I remember eating greasy Chinese food after coming back from church on Christmas eve. When I think about all of these things now, it makes me miss sitting in my childhood home with the glow of the tree in the background, the woodsy smell of pine in the air and the comfort of knowing everything was as it should be. The missing isn't so much a sad feeling but more of a longing for my life to be as comforting and reassuring as it was then.
Even when I graduated college and moved out of the house, my roommates and I started traditions of our own - we spiked our eggnog and decorated the Christmas tree and made up our own words to "O Christmas Tree."
And then of course one of my favorite memories of all: my friend John and I making up different theories while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" (Harry Bailey as the devil is still to this day, my favorite). I was just talking to John the other day - I have known him for over 20 years and even though we sometimes go very long stretches without talking, when we do connect, its like no time at all has passed. Those are the best and most precious kind of friends and I'm lucky to have more than one in my life. Anyway, we were talking about how both of our significant others really don't like "It's a Wonderful Life" because its corny and he said that in an age where the Kardasians is the most watched show on TV, "corny" is refreshing and I couldn't agree more. Even if it is overly sentimental, I'll take the movie that was made in the 1940s but still has deep and true meaning over a reality show that no one will have heard of 5 years from now. I don't care how sappy anyone thinks it is, it is real and gets right to the heart of what our society is missing today - an appreciation for valuables that are not tangibles - friendship, love, loyalty and a touch of magic.
Even though I miss everyone that I have mentioned in this post, I am lucky to have such good friends and loving family so on Christmas eve when my husband and I are drinking champagne in the glow of our cute little table top tree, I will toast to fond memories and hope for good things to come.
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