Tidings

Dear Whoever You Might Be,

      Did you feel it? The Christmas magic? Did you wake up early or stay snuggled under the covers for an extra hour, knowing that it was OK to wait? Did you wear matching pajamas with anyone else in the house? You know the kind: flannel, fleece, footies, it does not matter as long as they matched. Did you sit at the top of the stairs with your knees jamming into chest, heart racing in anticipation of the words allowing you to descend towards the tree? Or did you go down whenever your sleepy eyes adjusted and your nose pricked at the aroma of coffee and pancakes?

      Did you even celebrate Christmas? Maybe instead of the traditional tree-huddling you took a vacation, a cruise, a trip. Maybe you are more of a Hanukkah or Kwanza celebrant. Did you do anything to celebrate the "Holiday Season"? Did you build a snowman? Did you sing carols? Bake cookies? Watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer one too many times? Drink hot chocolate or eggnog? Wrap any sort of presents, regardless of the reason?

      Did you feel sad at the end of the night? When the darkness began to creep across the sky and lighted houses began to ignite? Did you feel a shift in the air as the wrapping paper was thrown away and the initial WOW factor began to waver? Did you experience a sort of emptiness as the number of family members started to thin out and goodbyes were hugged away? At the end of the night, did you sit in front of the tree and think "It is over now. The presents have been unwrapped. Jesus has come. The family will be traveling back to Timbucktoo soon. The tree will come down in a few days and there will be a void."?

      I must say, at the end of almost every single Christmas Day, I am overwhelmed by some sort of sad emotion. Maybe it is because after so much build up and excitement for the best day of the year, it is over in a blink of an eye. Maybe because my body is just coming down from the adrenaline rush of JESUS, CHURCH, PRESENTS, EAT, FAMILY, EAT, MORE FAMILY! Maybe it is because once Christmas is over, the rest of my break from college will be over too quickly.

      I know this is not the most thrilling, cheerful or even literary post I've given. But as I pondered over my thoughts on Christmas, I realized that there always exist a sort of bitter-sweet sentiment attached to the day...at least for me. Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. Everything about it. And it's not the presents or the ornaments or ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. It is about the warmth and joy and giving. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus, even though many people don't. I love Rudolph and Frosty too. Maybe that is why I get sentimental. Because I just love it all so much and then the rest of the world puts it away. Stockings get taken down. Mangers get carefully wrapped and boxed up until next Advent. Peppermint hot chocolate becomes hard to track.

      Regardless of my feelings, Christmas is magical, in every way possible. And reader, I hope that no matter how you celebrated, and even if you didn't celebrate, you felt some sort of magic in the air. I hope you stepped outside and breathed in a deep breath of goodwill, peace, and maybe even a little snow.

                                                                      Sincerely,
                                                                              Me