Not Christmas, with the obligatory gift-giving, but post-Christmas where a sense of normality returns. Yes, I’m a true Grinch, but unlike the Dr. Seuss character my heart has not grown in size.
Christmas has never been a religious holiday in my family, neither grandparents or parents attending church, synagogue or mosque by the time I arrived: Christmas was a time to exchange gifts, and as a child I thoroughly enjoyed it. Home movies from my first Christmas showed a plethora of gifts for 9 month-old Scott. And yes, for many years I thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of toys received.
Individual events aggregated into my feelings of today: my half-sister receiving multiple Cabbage Patch dolls during Christmas 1983 riots occurred in stores; a girlfriend shopping with her mother and sister to buy “presents” to give each other; children bragging about their haul after returning to school in January; my mom struggling to compete with my Dad’s gift-giving with less means to do so. I find it all rather disgusting.
My wife, who loves Christmas, learned after a few years not to push me. We no longer give presents to one another. My wife no longer expects me to actively participate in identifying/buying gifts. She allows me to check-out, some years I retreat to my office during the orgy of present opening. The younger grandchildren are too young to really notice it, but their parents know and no one tries to engage me. Thank you!
Now Christmas is in the rearview mirror and I can look forward to 2025 and whatever it might bring …..
