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Let’s play.

41 Comments

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Or don’t, it’s entirely up to you.

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I could say “you” but Mariah Carey already did and continues to do so entirely too much this time of year.

I used to be crazy for Christmas. I’d decorate everything that stood still.

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Yes, even the Barn Mahal.

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I shopped till I dropped searching for the perfect gifts. I’d spend a fortune on fancy wrapping paper and sparkling ribbons and give you something that was almost too pretty to open. I’d send 150 handwritten festive cards and host elaborate meals. Our tree was a magnificent thing to behold… always freshly cut, twinkling with alternating strands of red, green and white lights and festooned with gorgeous ornaments.

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Even the cats were impressed.

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There were carols playing, sweet baked treats on the table, mistletoe over the doorway, and I enjoyed every single thing about it.

Until I didn’t.

Until the beloved family members who shared my joy passed, one by one by one.

Until it all seemed like a terrible waste of money. And time. And effort.

My husband was raised poor, one of nine children for whom Christmas meant work and hand me downs. He always went along with my Xmas mania but never really felt it… so why was I bothering?

In 2015, a year after my mother died, I simply quit.

No tree, no gifts, no meals. I cut my card list back by 2/3rds, put some wreaths on the windows and called it good. We took a trip to the Pocono mountains to escape and enjoyed a stress free week that would become our new tradition. We’ve travelled every year since and never looked back with regret. The memories are gift enough.

In answer to the question, I don’t need anything and I don’t want anything. We have too much “stuff” already. What I want is what I already have, a nice home, a nice cat and the wonderful man I’ve shared my life with for the past 40 years.

Do I miss the big bright Christmases?

Sometimes, yes. But not enough to resurrect them.

That’s my slightly depressing story. So…

What do you want for Christmas?

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41 thoughts on “Let’s play.”

  1. I have never decorated to that level. But when I used to decorate, just a tree with decorations was enough for me and the Christmas cards received. But I have not even done this now for I don’t know how many years. I thought about a small tree not long ago. But I won’t follow through.

    I don’t want anything for Christmas. I have what I want.

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  2. I remember my mom being hard to shop for. She didn’t want anything. Getting old, there is much less to want. I get it now.

    I do want a tree. My daughter and I used to go together to cut one every year. They went with theIr brother and his family this year. I guess I’m being phased out. A three year old is more fun than I am. I’m going to have to get a pre-cut tree because I don’t want to saw with a broken collarbone. I could, but it would be a bad idea. Even if I had a battery-powered SawzAll, I don’t think the vibration would be good. I don’t have a long enough extension cord to reach, and the dull handsaws at the tree place take a long time.

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      1. The place I usually go has some pre-cuts but they don’t cut to order. I don’t know of a place that will do that. I’m headed out of town tomorrow and there is a place on the way back from where I’m going (and before I reach the Old Same Place) where I may stop and ask.

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  4. I want my kitties to be healthy and happy. That’s it. I’ve been alone forever and pretty much stopped celebrating holidays a long time ago.

    That said, I was super enthusiastic a couple week ago. It passed before I accomplished anything. I’d really like to at least move my light arch put front, but time is moving so fast….

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  5. This Christmas it will probably just be hubby and me. A bottle of champagne, some crab salad. Maybe ending with chocolate mousse. I’d love it if he was well enough to do something but he is stubbornly refusing to follow doctor’s orders so what can I do? Nothing1 Lovely tree by the way – you do have the knack.

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  6. Oh, I am with you. Especially on the crazy gift shopping, with a family larger than your husband’s. I couldn’t wait to decorate, I enjoyed the wrapping, I made SO. MANY. COOKIES. We threw a huge Christmas Eve caroling party when we didn’t travel. I still like Christmas, but with my son getting older and my husband always ambivalent, I scale it back every year. This year I gave away lights and ornaments and probably there will be far fewer cookies, thanks to my injuries.

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  7. I just want the feeling that goes with a holiday. Idk i really enjoy making brunch for my in-laws. I don’t have my parents, so I enjoy being around my wife’s family. I won’t see my brother till after Christmas.

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      1. Well this Christmas like Thankdgiving slightly blighted my M-i-l was supposed to get a frowth on a lymphnode checked, but they took the wrong thing 😡 now she gotta do that again on Dec 24th

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      2. Do you eat? If you eat any plant, is that not the same? Christmas trees are grown as a crop. They don’t come from a forest except in a tortured definition of the term. If you use this definition: “something resembling a forest especially in profusion or lushness”, then a cornfield or even a planting of tomatoes is a forest.

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      3. No, it is not the same. All plants are living beings, yes. But life lives on life, it’s called the food chain. Trees grown to be for decoration are not part of the food chain.

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