CHRISTMAS FEELINGS THAT LIVE ALL YEAR

Do Christmas feelings surround you all year, or just after Thanksgiving?

If there are only two kinds of Christmas people, that’s them. The ‘Pro-Christmas v No-Christmas’ debate doesn’t belong here.

In someone worth caring about, the Christmas spirit shines through, whether they agree or not.

How to know a Christmas shine when you see it?

Start with an act of kindness, a gentle reminder, a nudge to do better next time.

Do that for someone and you’re giving a special gift, and it’s not a hammer blow of ‘do it, or burn in hellfire’ sort of thing. That one thing brings us together.

Coming from a large family of six, four kids and two parents, Christmas was full of anxious anticipation of what’s under that tree.

As a snarky kid I kept track of who got what and compared. That’s not the Christmas feelings to move forward with. My parents made the effort, did their best, and it was a great time to remember.

At one Christmas, I was ten or eleven, my parents did something that has hung with me. In the middle of opening presents, and we were rippers, they asked me to take out the trash.

Take out the trash on Christmas? Me? What the hell, it can’t wait?

I was about to get a twist in my undies when they told my brother to help take the trash out in the middle of Christmas morning. I didn’t need help, but still liked that they tagged brother so we could whine together.

‘Christmas isn’t about taking out trash, it’s making a big mess first.’

‘They asked me to help because they don’t think you know how to take out the trash by yourself.’

‘If I needed help I wouldn’t ask you anyway.’

That was the loving subtext between two sweet brothers while my parents beamed in their own anticipation. Of what, I didn’t know.

They looked like a couple of bobble-head dolls watching us take the trash out to the carport on Ohio street.

Before getting into ‘the worst Christmas ever’ talk for taking out the trash, brother and I opened the back door with trash bags in our hands to find two new bikes.

I like to think I squealed and jumped for happiness before realizing how tricky Mom and Dad were. The Christmas feelings that day sealed a lifetime of holiday funnies.

Do You Have A Year Long Christmas Feelings Partner?

Here’s how to tell:

“Why are you buying that?”

“It’s a Christmas present.”

“For who?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“It’s April.”

“So what?”

Things change in December.

“Honey you are the best shopper in the world. So thoughtful, and you’re done before the rush so we can relax without that pressure.”

“What have you done?”

“It’s not Christmas yet.”

“Yes it is.”

Those Christmas feelings light the light. It’s different than these:

Army Christmas With Gedi And Pak

Pak was from Korea, Gedi from Hungary. I was from North Bend, Oregon. We were part of the medic class cycling through school at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas in 1974.

Who knew the Army took a Christmas break?

I was stranded because as a new soldier right out of bootcamp, I had screwed up what they called an allotment.

The year before I’d been a college student and I’d be a college student again in two years. In between I’d save all my Army money. Toward that goal I filled out papers to deposit my checks in a bank account back home.

Don’t do that.

It takes time for all of the Army paperwork to clear, which left me flat broke in Texas. I didn’t ask my parents for money to come home because, you know, being a manly man and all at twenty. Besides, they still had three other kids coming home.

I hung with my buddies Pak and Gedi because I knew they weren’t going home either. We were all sad together.

The base was empty except for us leftovers. Every morning a small group of twenty assembled and got orders of the day, which consisted of the words ‘Police Up This Area’ where a sergeant pointed to place on the base map.

Policing up an area meant walking to the designated area and picking up trash. I picked up trash and dumped the bag over Christmas.

Where’s my bike, right?

Those trash orders took us to remote areas in the field where the Texas sunrise cast a Christmas spell celebration in stunning colors. I had the same stunned reaction decades later to the stained glass church windows in Spain, and France, and England.

Gedi and Pak talked about Christmas in Korea and Hungary.

Pak: I grew up in a refugee camp after the war. Those desperate skinny kids you see on TV commercials asking for money? That was Christmas for me.

Gedi: My father had been a judge when the communists took over. We lost everything. He rode a horse to town after that.

Pak was a karate black belt and showed us his workouts. Gedi was a fourth degree judo black belt and showed us his workouts. I was a wrestler waiting for orders sending me to the All-Army Wrestling Team tryouts in Fort Dix, New Jersey. We pushed each other.

Christmas 2020

Start with an act of kindness, a gentle reminder, a nudge to do better next time.

Do that for someone and you’re giving a special gift.

Tell them you read it about on some blog, so it’s got to be true.

What are some Christmas feelings for 2020? Tell someone. When they start listing the hard times, give them a gentle nudge, a reminder of the moment you’re sharing.

Mask. Hands. Distance. Love. Push a little.

I’ll thank you ahead of time, they’ll thank you later.