Happy Holidays, family! ... ... Yikes! Seems like I've heard more than a few "Bah, humbug!"'s in the throng! Truth to be told, I can understand the Humbugs. I couldn't before, because I'm an insufferable Christmas head. The whole pageantry, pomp & circumstances surrounding the holiday season always made my year, and reversed whatever trials I had endured throughout the year. I'm speaking in past tense, because this year was particularly tough. Memories and voices of Christmases past, visit me like Ebenezer Scrooge's ghostly visitors. Sights, sounds, smells, stories, TONS of laughter. Where there was once a surplus, my proverbial cup running over, is now barely a drop in said cup. I used to find depression during the holidays to be an unfathomable notion, and brushed it off as some people just being silly and self-centered. Until you encounter a reason. Loss never took the jingle out of my bells, until I lost my Moms. She was the main "bell-jingler" in the family. Holidays spent in that tiny 2 bedroom apartment in the Polo Grounds projects in Harlem, had enough love, life, and laughter to fill a mansion to overflow! Even when she didn't have it, she ALWAYS found a way to make a feast for the belly, and a feast for the soul. Her laughter was always the loudest, and heartiest, and most infectious. If she laughed, YOU'D soon be laughing, guaranTEED! The past two years have been a stark contrast to the past 50+. The smells are gone. The laughter is gone. Hell, even some of the friends and family are gone. Almost in the blink of an eye...gone. I can NOW understand the Humbugs, and their sentiments. I no longer besmirch them, and their anti-Christmas stances. I get it. I understand. I empathize...but I'm not gonna subscribe. It's tough, but I'm not gonna sport a Nike Humbug jersey, and hat. Can't do it. To her last breath, Moms loved, and looked forward to the holiday season. Not for presents received, but for presents GIVEN. She lived to give. Loved to give. Whether it was a present, or a plate, giving was her mantra. If she were ever depressed, she would replace that feeling with the excitement of trying to make someone's holiday extra special. This is a skill that I've yet to master. I'm learning how to do that, as the pull towards being a Humbug is getting stronger and stronger. Their recruitment game is strong...but my desire to NOT be a Humbug, or dwell on sadness is even stronger. Yah took a HUGE portion off of my plate, and has handed me the utensils, apron, and chef's hat, and has basically said to me, "Have at it, my son.". I've no idea of what to do, or how to do it (Moms made it look so easy...), but Yah has tasked me, and He clearly sees something in me that I don't. I guess I'd better warm up the oven...
Christmas means different things for different people, and different interpretations of the birth of Christ. Some take issue with things like the actual date of His birth, where He was born, who was there, and even what color He was. Everyone is right, and everyone is wrong. One of the wisest men I've ever had the privilege of sharing a timeline with, the Late, Mr. Ralph Thompson, Sr. of Newnan, Georgia once said of Jesus, "Jesus is whatever you need for him to be!" Well, and simply put, sir. I apply that to Christmas. Some may take umbrage to my naivete, and that's okay. But I think that so many people get so caught up in the reasons NOT to celebrate, that they've forgotten TO celebrate! Find YOUR OWN reasons! If you have doubts in the validity of the season, why not just use it to celebrate FAMILY? That, to ME, is the GREATEST reason! You don't have the money to buy gifts? So what! Family, REAL family doesn't get caught up in such trivialities. You hate the commercialization? Tune it out! Take the holiday season and make it your own! What law stipulates and mandates how you celebrate the holidays? WhatEVER you do, please make sure that love is at the core. If the shoes that you have your eye on only come in a size 10, and you're rocking a size 13, stubbornly rocking that size 10, is guaranTEED to bring you pain, discomfort, and unhappiness.
Find YOUR reasons, and celebrate LOUDLY and lovingly.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyeux Noel, Happy Chanukah, etc.
One of my greatest gifts, is having you all as my family. You all guaranTEE me a reason to celebrate.
I love you all💖💖💖🎄🎄🎄
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