Alone at Christmas

Contrary to popular opinion, it is not really that sad to spend Christmas alone. I have done it several years and will be doing so again this week. I have been invited to spend time with several people in the area where I live, but it isn't the same as spending Christmas with your family. Since I can't spend Christmas with my parents and 5 siblings I have developed my own Christmas traditions. They might not make sense to anyone else, but they are mine. I enjoy sleeping in, attending a new movie (as long as Christmas isn't on Sunday) and then coming home to watch the original Star Wars trilogy in my pajamas. What more could a girl ask for anyway?

I think I am so relaxed about Christmas because my parents weren't big into the whole presents and splurging. Most Christmases we were too poor to afford much but we each received a new book from Mom and Dad. We weren't allowed to open presents until after breakfast and everyone was allowed to sleep until they woke up on their own. The going-to-a-movie tradition started in 1991. We went as a family to see "Hook." It was a special treat to go to the movies that year because we had already been to the movies that year as a family. (We always went to see the new Disney film and that year my favorite, "Beauty and the Beast" came out.) Since that year, we tried as a family to attend any good movies that helped us make memories as a family. Some years that didn't happen, but there were other things we did.

The Christmas I remember the best is the one where Dad was out of work and we weren't going to have anything for Christmas. Mom and Dad had gotten us together and explained our family's financial situation and so we decided to just perform anonymous acts of service for each other. Someone in our town found out that we would not even have a tree that year. For about a week, someone left things on our porch. One night it was a beautiful tree they had cut down themselves; another night someone left a box of presents for my brothers and me. I still don't know who did this for us, but I remember how nice it felt to realize that there was someone out there who was aware of me and my family. It taught me how important it is to pay attention to the little things about others and try to see the person inside, not just exterior packaging.

This Christmas our family has begun to change. My number 3 brother is engaged and spending the holidays with his fiancee's family. Next Christmas, I will have a new sister, which I think is extremely awesome. But that means that they will be starting their own little family and building traditions of their own. This is not a bad thing, just new and different. So I am reminded this year that the years move on and things change. More than ever this reminder helps me realize that the traditions I establish in my own life, on my own, are important and necessary. While others may celebrate Christmas day with presents and family playing games at the kitchen table, I get to eat pot roast and watch "Star Wars" --and no one will care that I quote all three movies from beginning to end, all by myself. And if I feel lonely, I have some people in my life who have been kind enough to invite me to stop by their homes and share my "Star Wars" tradition with them as they allow me to be a participant in their family's Christmas Day traditions.

Happy Christmas and a Wondrous New Year to you!