Seventeen Days Until Christmas~~Have You Pulled All The Hair Off Your Head Yet?

There was a time when Christmas meant the world to me. Family and once a year events filled the month of December and I could not wait until it arrived and was extremely sad when it was over. The holiday season has lost that luster for me. Three things changed how I fell about Christmas. First, I am no longer a Christian so the religious aspects of Christmas do not resonate with me any longer. The secular aspects have become less important because of the loss of my family, due to divorce, and through that loss having to spend most of this time of year alone.

I do miss many things about the holiday season. Of course most of what I miss is family related. I suppose that is natural.

This year is a little different than my most recent holidays. I have someone to spend the holidays with although it is a long distance situation. I am starting to get back some of that old holiday spirit. For the first time in seven years I have put up a Christmas Tree. It is a Charlie Brown looking bush but it is decorated and I have placed a gift for my dog under it, lol.

The following is a list of my favorite Christmas Day activities and some of my favorite things that I grew up loving.

~~Mimosas(champagne and orange juice) while opening presents.
~~Christmas breakfast with everyone wearing their Christmas pajamas(corny I know).
~~Christmas Eve walk(I use to love doing this and seeing how all the houses were decorated).
~~Christmas Day dinner with all the family gathered around. Yes we did the adult table and the kids table.
~~Watching 'It's A Wonderful Life' and 'White Christmas' until those movies were permanently burned into my brain.
~~Singing Christmas Carrol's, very much off key, and loving every minute of it.
~~Listening to Karen Carpenter sing 'Merry Christmas Darling'. I had to spend many a Christmas on military duty. Somehow this song made me feel a little closer to home.
~~Finally that time, late Christmas Day when all the family has gone home and the kids are finally asleep, sitting in front of the fireplace snuggling up to the most important person in your life and just enjoying a short and intimate moment together.

There is nothing big or exciting on that list. Just things that make your life seem secure and meaningful.

A person can not ask for more out of their lives than having lived a meaningful life. Leading a meaningful life has little to do with accomplishments and all to do with family. So this Christmas think about your family and hold them close. Because losing them changes everything.

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator, 1890

Love ya,
Randy