Tis the Season
This year has been rough. Two dear friends moved to opposite sides of the country, I lost my job, the director of my festival passed away (details on that entire experience in another post), and I’ve been dealing with some rather unpleasant gloom that decided to latch on to me somewhere around mid-April and just hold on tight.
Now, with that chipper and gleeful introduction, let me tell you why I’m so happy this Christmas.
Two Christmases in a row, my very best friend and I have simultaneously purchased each other the same gift. Now, I’m not saying that we each grabbed the other person a candle or perhaps we both got books. I’m talking the exact same gift, down to the details. Last year, while living no more than 15 minutes apart (and that’s in bad weather and traffic), we both purchased a fabulous brown t-shirt with yellow writing that reads “Haikus are easy/But sometimes they don’t make sense/Refrigerator.” Awesome, right? This year, living approximately 1932.43 miles apart (thanks, MapQuest), we each bought the other person the t-shirt that reads “Shakespeare hates your emo poems.” What are the odds, right? Apparently pretty good when you know someone this well. I guess this helped me reaffirm that our friendship isn’t going anywhere. That’s a big mark on the plus column this Christmas.
What else makes this Christmas one to beat? Well, this year my family decided to branch out a bit from the tradition of buying umpteen presents for each and every member of the family (which, though I enjoy, can be costly as there are a ton of us) and we switched to a drawing system. And for the first time, the family agreed on the arrangement with little to no drama, easing us all into this new grownup era of McPherson Family Christmases.
And there’s my tree…not just that she’s beautiful this year (though she is!). Not just that I have a lovely assortment of gifts stashed under her (though I do). This year, for the first time in almost 5 years, I didn’t decorate alone. A certain special young man helped me pick out the tree, put it up, and decorate it. Sitting quietly in my house, the lights twinkling, John Denver playing softly, and a sweet guy with his arms around me, made for a truly beautiful tree experience this year.
I don’t have much money, so most people got small tokens or baked goods. And I don’t have an office to bring treats to, so instead I picked my favorite shelter here in town and gave them what I would have brought to work. My gift platter might not have been the most elaborate, but their sincere excitement and tears meant so much more than any corporate card or stale cookie would have meant in my old break room. I teared up myself a little and I can’t help but wonder why I hadn’t done it before.
I have a few gifts that I am really, really excited about giving people this year. They may not be expensive or flashy, but I love the idea of them and I think the recipients will be super pumped as well. I got the niece and nephews a few small presents; the window scraper/tree putter upper/laundry folder/super great boy friend a gift way back in November and I’m really anxious to see if I got this one right; and yesterday I came across a fun, silly gift for a friend that should make her smile. Who doesn’t love that?
So really, I just wanted to say how happy I am this Christmas. My friendships are in tact and still going strong. I have friends who have rallied around me this past season with dedication and love that I could never have expected. I have a person in my life who makes me feel special and loved (and that’s really the only gift I wanted this year). And on top of all of that, there will be ham and potatoes tomorrow! Christmas really does rock, you know.
Merry Christmas to all of you!