Christmas and Valentines

I, too, am struck by the Christmas Blues...months of preparation, and it is all over in one day, moving very fast. I am convinced that all those people who "hate" Christmas, just do not want to go through this fugue that follows the Day...they want to be happy through the winter. Meanwhile, the rest of us hang onto memories of red and green, chocolate and turkey, and love.

I didn't mention family in the above list, because it can be a very traumatic experience for some...being forced to spend time up close and personal, with people we may or may not spend a lot of time with the rest of the year. And too, spending time in one's head with all those who have died. Yes, the family factor can be problematic. And let's not forget those who have no family to spend time with; their lack is held under a microscope this time of year. It's simply worse if they have family, and no one wants to spend time with them...do you see?

And so, some of us, Christmas haters and not, spend time with the lonely ones. Which is a celebration of Christmas as it should be.

And now we wait, for the stars to fall on New Year's Day...all the glitter and excitement which ends in a dead pool at January 2nd. Until the celebration of Spring, Easter. I don't count Valentine's Day, which is the most useless holiday one can imagine. It's a massive competition to see who gets the most roses, dead the day after, and/or the most expensive box of chocolates. And other gifts, which make it seem as if sex is mandatory on that night. It's an orgy of red in the middle of Winter, which leaves the rest of us, who are not in relationships, to look at each other and say, "So what?" Which sounds like sour grapes, but isn't.

When I think of Valentine's Day, I think of the little cut-out valentines that school children exchange, and think that the holiday should stop at that age. And it seems as if it has...my mother used to exchange valentines with my brother and I. For her, it meant love in all it's varieties and forms, not simply romantic love, the commercial experience of Valentine's Day. But there, I am casting my mind back to the dead, part of the Christmas blues experience.

And so now, I walk on my beloved Hollins campus, admiring the gold and slate gray, and green of the winter colors. I walk with the memory of Eddie, my service dog, and I walk with the living dog, Max. And I grit my teeth on New Year's Eve and Day, and Valentine's Day, and hope for Spring.