Hello, Strangers! By Ginger Foutley
"It doesn't matter how sincere it is
Or how heartfelt the spirit
Sentiment will not endear it
What's important is, the price."
--Tom Lehrer
"A Christmas Carol"
Okay, so I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately, it's often the truth at this time of year. Sometimes we get so caught up in the tradition of gift giving that nothing else about this day seems to matter. And I hate that. Now, before everyone groans about another message denouncing the commercialization of Christmas, hear me out. That's not really what this is about. I'm not going to tell you that the stores are ruining Christmas, or to take up arms in the war against Christmas, or any of that. It might seem a little out of character for me not to, but there's already a hundred other people out there willing to do that. I don't want to be just another voice in the throng, I prefer to be on the front lines. So instead, I'm going to talk a bit about family, because that's what this is all about.
Here we are again, it's late at night on Christmas Eve. Well, okay, not really. I'll confess that I wanted to spend some time with my own family, so I handed this into Courtney on Wednesday. Plus, the newspapers are delivering the Sunday edition on Saturday this week because of the holiday. But for the sake of argument, let's all just make believe. It's more fun that way, right?
So instead I'm going to talk to you for a bit on what I feel Christmas is all about. Now I've never been very good at practicing religion, but I do firmly believe that the original meaning beyond Christmas was meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, I know there's a lot of controversy over that, and plenty of people willing to come forth with their talk about how it was made to convert pagans to Christianity, and the Jesus couldn't have been born in December, and all that. And they're probably right. But it shouldn't matter. The point is, this is the time of year when we have elected to celebrate that birth.
Okay, fine. So that's all well and good. But what about people that aren't into Christianity? Well, in the world we live in, there's plenty more to Christmas than an infant in a manger. The national government lists Christmas as a national holiday. Most of us get the day off, and those that don't are raking in some serious cash. But whether you observe Christmas religiously or not, what do we do on Christmas Day? Well, I personally like to spend it with my family and my friends, the people that mean the most to me. Traditionally, we exchange gifts, a ceremony grounded both in the story of the Magi and also from other winter holidays that Christmas essentially absorbed. It's supposed to be a time of year when we show one another how much we care by giving presents to each other. But to me, it's never been about the presents. It's about the people. And even though I don't expect most people to believe me, it really does feel better to give than to receive. I like to see my mother's face light up when I give her something complex that took me a while to put together. Like the year I bought her a tea set but every piece was from a different place and had a certain theme. Sure, she enjoyed the present, but I think what really made her happy is knowing that I took the time to think about what I wanted to get for her. When I was younger, I used to exchange a lot of handmade stuff with my best friends Dodie and Macie. I used to think that these were the kinds of things that helped cement our bonds of friendship. Now I wonder if we'd have been better off using actual cement. But that's another story for another time.
What do you think of when you hear the word Christmas? Carols? Presents? Family? A big dinner? What does the holiday mean to you? It's so engrained in a culture that I don't personally know a single person who doesn't celebrate it at least secularly. Radio stations play holiday songs all day long. You can't get away from the advertisements to buy stuff. The store hours get longer and longer all the way up to Christmas Eve. The lines get longer. The parking spaces shrink in size and number. By the time we get to the week before Christmas, there's this big part of me that's just ready for the whole thing to be over already. But somehow, I forge ahead anyhow. It's important to keep yourself going. I made the mistake of getting lazy one year and putting everything off until this week. Boy, was that a mistake! I've never regretted something so much! Trust me, you don't want to put yourself through that kind of hassle. It's the kind of mistake you only make once, and that's enough to make you start swearing by mail order catalogs. And there's definitely something to be said for those people who have all of their shopping done before Thanksgiving. Maybe that is the best way to go. I've never tried it before. But then, I'm usually busy trying to do about fifty other things every week. Christmas rarely even enters my mind until the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday. The day the world goes out to cram as much shopping into one day. Ironically, it's probably the day that's about as far removed from the Christmas spirit as you can get. When people start coming to blows about who gets the last throw blanket, you know that things have gotten out of hand.
Filling out Christmas cards, there's a part I really like! Ha! It drives me crazy, honestly. I always end up with writer's cramp by the time I'm done. I wonder if this age of computers has made me soft on stuff like that. But somehow, a Christmas e-mail seems to lack the personal touch I always try to go for. This column feels much more genuine to me, because it's from the heart and sent out to everyone. Something to be read at Christmas time, the only gift I really have to offer all of my fans. I only wish it could be more. But when you push your deadline as much as I do, your options become kind of limited.
I'm staring outside. The moon is waning. The trees are still snow crested. Every so often, the wind howls, letting me know just how cold it is out there. But we're warm in here. The thermostat is turned up, we've got our blankets, and most importantly, we have each other. For better or for worse, we're family. Sometimes that's all you have. But when you're lucky, that's all you need. Merry Christmas, everyone, wherever you are.
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Author's Notes
Merry Christmas one and all! Not much to say here, this is just meant to be a special little update for the holiday. Although I would like to take the time to keep you updated on the status of the story. I'm still working on Ceremony Of Innocence, but it's moving along very quickly. At this point, I'm expecting IG to return from hiatus with a brand new chapter on January 16. The story should then resume its normal production schedule. I hope that the information pleases everyone. I like to make everyone happy when I can. Which isn't often enough, lately, I'm sorry to say, but I'm doing my best.
At any rate, before I go, I'd just like to thank everyone who nominated this story for all those different categories. There are weeks where updating this thing starts to become a chore, but I've always continued to work at it because I know that everyone is counting on me. So many of you out there have shown this story a huge amount of dedication, and I do my best to reciprocate by updating the story as often as reasonably possible. My way of say thanks.
Anyway, it's like after 3AM now, and I want to go to bed tonight. So enjoy this second offering from me today. I'm just so thoughtful, I know. (Imagine wild sarcasm here). I hope everyone has a great holiday and I'll be seeing you all back here at IG soon! In the meantime, enjoy Ceremony Of Innocence. And as always, send your questions, comments, compliments, complaints, love letters, death threats, marriage proposals, and ransom demands to:
Lord Malachite
12/25/05
3:11AM, EST
E-mail: ranger(underscore)writer(at)yahoo(dot)com
AIM: Asukaphile26