Christmas will be here in just a few days. The season means so many different things to so many people. When I was a kid it was all about waiting for the Simpson-Sears and Eatons Christmas catalogues to arrive. Then my sister and I would go through both of them marking what we wanted (or wished for) to see under the tree on Christmas morning. Of course, there were always the 'big' things we wanted that were far beyond my parent's budget, but it was fun all the same. My birthday falls just a few days before the big day, so I got to pick birthday presents from the catalogues too which was an added bonus.
Christmas dinner was a huge affair, my aunt and uncle would always come with their dog. Uncle Jim was my mother's only brother/sibling so it was a tradition that they come and share Christmas with us. My older sister with her husband and kids would come and the living room would be taken over by the 'good' table with many leaves in it to make it reach from one end of the room to the other. The 'good' table spent most of the year reduced down to a much smaller size as the leaves were removed and then the base acordianed into itself and one piece flipped over so it took up very little room in the corner of the living room. Our house was pretty small, two bedrooms upstairs and my grandparents turned what was originally the dining room into their bedroom. My sister and I slept in bunk beds in my parent's room until my older sister got married. It was crowded but it was never boring.
Later on, as we grew up and left home, Christmas became different. When I married, for a few years we had two dinners. One at my parent's house and one at my husband's parents. That didn't last more than four or five years. We still visited both houses on Christmas but only one dinner! LOL
But the years move on, my own children are grown and following their dreams. They are both too far away to spend Christmas together. There are empty places at the table now where family members used to sit. In time, it will be my place that is empty. The circle moves on, the wheel turns...
So now, for me Christmas is about endings and beginnings. Not in a bad or sad way, but in acceptance that the only constant thing in life is change. There is the ending of the year that is passing, all the years that have passed before this one, and yet there is the new year waiting to be born with the rising and setting of the sun. A new year of possibilites and adventure. Like an ouroborus which is both the beginning and the end as he holds the tail of his remembering in the mouth of his future, the world is full of endings and beginnings.
May your holidays be full of joy and laughters. Until next month, be well, be happy.
