'tristmas" pt 2

So, little did I know when I wrote my last entry what this Christmas would actually hold for me and my family...

Thursday morning before Christmas I got a call from my dad, which in and of itself is a reason for me to worry. Listening to the message, I discovered that mom had intestinal flu, and they didn't think it would be a good idea for me to come home. I wasn't planning to be there until late Saturday, so I emailed him and told him that I would wait until Sunday afternoon, but I couldn't just NOT come home for Christmas. I was hoping it would be a 24 hour thing and all would be as it should by then...

Saturday I got a message from mom, she was not any better and now dad had caught the bug. According to her it was the world's worst flu, and she didn't want me near them. Also, the house was not ready, nor the food or gifts...

Now there was an issue. I live alone, over an hour from my parents, and the thought of spending Christmas Eve into Christmas morning alone for the first time in my life did not sound pleasant. I am blessed with friends who are like family, and I could spend Christmas Day with them, but the night before.... no candlelight service, no special meal, no cookies and hot chocolate by the fireplace... and waking up alone on Christmas morning... I'd like to spiritualize all of it, and say that it was an awesome opportunity to reflect on Jesus and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. While I did spend time reflecting on Jesus, and I tried to make the best of it while cooking myself a nice meal and wrapping gifts, it was still very difficult. One ray of light from the Lord came through a phone call from a friend spending his first Christmas away from home as well, and it reminded me of all of my friends overseas who would be missing their family this night. Remembering this eased the pain, and helped me realize that I wasn't truly alone. Besides that, as miserable I was, it was nothing compared to what my parents were facing. Mom said she lost 10 lbs in 4 days...

I had fun on Christmas day with my friends and truly enjoyed the relaxation of having a four day weekend from work. And I'll have Christmas with my family; it's only been postponed. I watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on Christmas day and it reminded me again that Christmas comes, with or without trappings, because that's not what it's about anyway. But this experience also made me appreciate my family even more than the traditions we have in place. I know that I can live without the traditions, though it's nice to have the memories we have made over the years together. I realized that I just wanted to be with THEM, whether we had presents or food or not. I have been truly blessed.

"tristmas"

The Christmas season turns a lot people into kids again. "Tristmas" was how I pronounced Christmas in COLLEGE, not as a child. I get downright giddy when it comes to decorating and giving gifts and pulling out the Christmas music...sometimes it makes me sound like a moron. But I have always been a kid at heart. I love cartoons; Disney movies, Spongebob Squarepants, and(much to my brother's dismay) I know every Veggie Tale silly song by heart. And the music! I remember getting the Mariah Carey Christmas CD for myself the year I knew I was getting my first CD player. My college friends and I listened to that thing year 'round!

I don't remember a lot of Christmas's before 5-6th grade. I remember my first cabbage patch doll, and different gifts I got throughout the years, but the most ingrained memory is the traditional Christmas celebration in the Pierce household. We got it all mapped out early (I don't even remember how it started!) and though we have tried to deviate from "the plan" over the years, we ALWAYS came back to the family traditions. My mom brought organization to the chaos on my dad's side of the family. She went over to my grandparents' early in their relationship and it was a free-for-all around the tree...Everyone opening all their presents at once. It was over in minutes and no one knew who got what and and from whom. She started having them take turns from youngest to oldest and it stuck, there and in our own home. It gave everyone a chance to sit and share with one another and give thanks for what they were receiving.

Here is what a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would look like in our home. (Mom always wanted the quality time to last as long as possible!) :

Christmas Eve was full of baking and wrapping and getting ready for the next day. We would go to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church and then come home and have a nice meal, and then hot chocolate and cookies around the fireplace. Mom NEVER put all the presents under the tree before Christmas morning. She always waited until we went to bed to fill it up so that we would be surprised in the morning. Even after we stopped believing in Santa, she would keep our presents hidden. She also does not like to tell one of us what she got for the other. Only if she needed advice or help did she reveal what she got anyone.

On Christmas morning we would wake up and go down and start with stockings. We even took turns with those, reaching in for one thing at a time, going in order of youngest to oldest. When my sister in law joined our gathering, she had problems with this in particular. I don't know how many times my brother would call her out for digging around in her stocking when it was someone else's turn. She would just get this cute obviously guilty look on her face. I think he was maybe jus jealous he wasn't the youngest in the family anymore! Once those were done we would all go and help fix breakfast. Usually it was dad's famous scrambled eggs and some amazing baked sweet creation from mom. Only after we were finished with breakfast would we start passing out the gifts. Opening one at a time prolonged our time together, and it made the magic of Christmas morning last.

As an adult now I find myself still clinging to those things. I want the same tree we had growing up (though it's the oldest and fakest fake tree ever), I want the schedule to be the same, I want my brother to be there. But things change. The old tree has been retired for a number of tiny pencil trees, we only get my brother and sister every other year now, and I don't live at home anymore. Living on my own I miss most of the decorating and baking that goes on at my parents'. But times change, don't they? QUICKLY! And not everything can stay the same. It's nice to have traditions, but it's so easy to get unyielding or legalistic, and then we miss the whole point of Christmas: which is celebrating Christ.

"For unto us is born this day in the city of David, a Savior Who is Christ the Lord."