Holidays 2008
I procrastinated in getting “a few lines” written for the Thanksgiving/Christmas 2008 holiday season. One excuse would be the quick speed in which our lives seem to escape into, making the happiest few weeks of memory making and reflecting speed by in no time. Another excuse could be the many, many miles of driving between Alabama and Louisiana and from north Louisiana to central Louisiana to be at each family event. However, I think the main reason for my delay is deciding just how much or little to say…
This whirl of holiday, family, and fun marked a beginning and an end in our lives. Though, this was mine and Katy’s second Christmas as married couples, it was our first as Totally Independent Married Daughters. Dad likes to joke about us being off “his payroll” but I like to think that he uses the one sentimental bone in his body to reflect upon this as I do. For me, I think this Christmas hit me, more than on the day I was married, that “Wow, I’m a grown-up.” Luke and I made the decision as to how to do the holidays and our parents honored that decision; we live 8 hours away from the places we grew up, the generation of roots our respective families laid down and We are the ones that had to make that decision. I can’t say we let all this powerful independence go to our heads, we simply made each holiday decision based on fair and equal splits for each family and all other decisions on what was best at the time.—and this is the when and where of how a lovingly, cherished holiday for Brandi the child transformed into an event that opened my eyes to the undeniable change in roles a holiday brings for an adult…. Holidays Are Not Solely Centered Around You anymore. Yes, my Granny still asked what kind of dessert I wanted her to make me for Thanksgiving and I absolutely was not forgotten in the present department for Christmas but I can say in all dramatics that I was given sight… like Saul becoming Paul, the scales fell from my oh so self-absorbed, candy-coated Christmas glee sight and the reality of what tradition is and the cost of self to keep that tradition alive loomed above me like a jester-dress monkey bouncing high above my head held steady as a jack in his box. ** For now, we happily run back to our homes to live again in childhood memories of days gone by, enjoying every single carefree minute of ripped paper flying over our shoulders and the eager anticipation of what each box holds, and enjoying each piece of chocolate that Santa left in our stocking knowing that eating it on Christmas makes it calorie-free. All of this, we gladly do, but once the paper is bagged and the turkey is not much more than sagging bones in the center of the table, a realization billows between us transfixed in a cloud-shaped thought bubble of what the future does hold, how our own little family will change, and the birth of new decisions and a changing tradition saddens us a bit. (.. well, at least me, change is not something I tread into lightly.)
For now, though, we share our Thanksgiving laughter and Christmas joy with you. The celebration and closing of one chapter and the exciting new dreams for the next. May 2009 be all you can make of it! Happy New Year!
Click here for more pictures of the holidays. Photos from the Hough/Johnson holidays will be added soon.
** This concept should not be seen as me comparing myself to an imprisoned jack in the box to the traditions set forth by each of our families. I use this expressive yet somewhat disturbing image of a bouncing clown to describe the jolt I experienced from the birth of a sheltered, delightfully happy child a happy, decision making adult.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:20 am
What a good writer you are!! How descriptive and expressive–I love it! How exactly you described the feelings of many of us (at least the deeply sentimental ones that hold to our family traditions)! And, yes it will not be exactly the same again. But you will manage to keep many, many of your family traditons and even make new ones–especially when you are blessed with little ones of your own. And, as you reach each stage in your life, there will be more changes but you will manage those, too. In fact,you will come to embrace many of them and still hold dear the memories of the past. I know of what I speak–I am 14 years older than David and when Mama sold his baby bed to someone who really needed it, I cried. When Granny and Granddaddy Day moved to a better house, I cried for the old one and all my familiar and loved play places but Mama helped me understand that it was a change that made life much better for them. Anyhow, you get the idea–I am a sentimental old fool but even I have made it through many changes. Life is full of changes. I know, enough already! Lots of love to you and Luke!! Thanks for sharing!!