Friday, November 27, 2009

The Day After









The day after Thanksgiving - also know as Black Friday - marks the beginning of the shopping season. For the faint of heart, beware. For the braver folk, grab your credit card, lace up your kicks, and may you score a good sale (or two!).

The holidays are officially underway. Dun dun dun...
The parties, the food, the family & friends, the magic, the loneliness, the joy, the consumerism, the abundance of it all. Some adore it, some deplore it. So it goes. I stand somewhere in between but closer to the adoring side. My mom loves the holidays in a way that's unfailing contagious. She goes above and beyond to make it a magical experience form start to finish, taking even the smallest details into consideration. Each year she manages to outdo the previous but what's most amazing is the joy it brings to her and through her to all of us. I love this about my mom and I love spending this time with and around her.

This will be the first Christmas in my 27 years that I will not be celebrating in the traditional way. No snow, no caroling, no glitter and sparkle, no mom. This year I will be laying on the white sand of Mexico celebrating instead the 80th birthday of my father's father. While I'm torn emotionally at this break in tradition I'm welcoming this new experience.

I might even enjoy the break from the inevitable stress that tends to creep in during the weeks building up. I will miss Christmas dinner, I will miss the joy on my little brother's face as he walks along Santa's chocolate path towards the tree, I will miss my mama making cinnamon toast in her bathrobe while we open stockings, and the sleepy but happy togetherness we share on that early morning among the shiny packages and one another.

In a wierd way this year marks the end of childhood for me. For us all the holidays change as we grow up and some are better at keeping the spirit alive than others. My mom being one of them. It takes more effort on our part to find that magic that was so real, to experience the excitement, and the simple joy of imagination. These are the reasons I love Christmas. It's the sparkle, glitter, lights, beauty, laughter, cozy evening and mornings spent with people we love.

As much as I love the day of I admit that I'm usually exhausted by it from all the build-up and so I welcome the day after. All the work is done and we're allowed to just sit back and relax. Most of the family is still around but the pressure is off. It's the "ahhhhhhh" moment, the deep exhale, the calm after the storm. The challenge is to find those moments throughout the weeks leading up to, the days of, and of course, the day after.

May you find peace in your holidays, may your imagination go wild, may you enjoy the time spent with the people you love, and may you survive the mobs if you have decided to brave Black Friday. Happy Holidays!