We are into what is my favorite time of year. I have lots of childhood memories of the holidays and decorating the house I grew up in. My parents were great, and they let us decorate the outside however we wanted. It was always tacky and overdone with lights. Think Chevy Chase and Christmas Vacation.
Each year, my brothers and I would come up with some random idea on how to decorate the house, and we would spend a day and small fortune lighting it. It was cold and took forever and someone always got hurt. Falling off ladders, cutting oneself with a knife, you name it and it probably happened. Despite all the injuries and suffering the cold for hours, I still remember this time fondly. What I remember the most was when we were done the whole family would come together and eat a meal that my mother had spent the day preparing. We would laugh at each other and wait for dark to turn on the “display”.
The holidays weren’t about money spent. What I remember, and think back on, is the time we spent as a family, and it’s the small things, like the meal prepared, that I remember the most.
This is a difficult time of year for many people. I encourage you to go out of your way for others and remember it’s not the giant events that people will recall but the small genuine things you do out of kindness. Take the time to enjoy your families and make some memories you can look back on, even if they are tacky and come with an ER trip … or two.
"Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
**Just a side note, due to the mental trauma of falling off ladders, insecurely put up by my brother, I still hate heights.
