Happy New Year!
I’m sitting over here typing, wearing a pointy hat
and blowing a party horn (OR, even better, blowing one of those curly-cue
thingies!) I’m nothing if not festive at New Years! ;)
I know, I know, it’s already well into January. You’re
probably thinking ‘where in the h*ck has she been, for cryin’ out loud…?’ And
you would be correct to wonder that – in a
way. But after all, I am a woman, and it was the holidays, and women at the
holidays can be very very busy! (Yes, so can men, but perhaps that’s another
blog for another day…)
I’ve got to say that many many moons ago, when the young
Kolberg clan celebrated Christmas, my mother made it all look easy. It probably
wasn’t easy, but I was just too little,
busy or self-absorbed to notice. She cleaned the house, baked five or six types
of cookies, taught Sunday School and participated in the Christmas program at our
church, she sent out cards, she shopped and wrapped and … well… whatever else women
do to make Christmas merry for their families, I guess.
When I got married I continued with those same
traditions. Maybe I thought that it couldn’t really BE Christmas without all of the above. But I began to see that
December became a very grueling month. For those of you who know me, you know
that cleaning the house (in and of itself) is a feat for me. I baked some
cookies (but more like two or three kinds), I sent the kids to Christmas
program practice but didn’t teach for more than one year, I shopped and wrapped…
and cards – oh my goodness – cards have become quite the project! By the time I
sign each card with a personal greeting, find a worthy picture (this year we
used a shameless ‘selfie’), create a dreaded Christmas letter for those who don’t
know what’s what with our family… well, we’re talking HOURS, I mean DAYS,
of work. (Well, not DAYS, really, but you know what I mean…)
Actually, I’m really kidding. I totally enjoy
Christmas and all of its fun, secular activities.
But my favorite part of the whole season is the
quiet church service on Christmas Eve, when we all light candles and sing “Silent
Night.” If every other tradition faded away, that’s the only one I’d want to/need
to keep. It’s what it’s all about. “…radiant beams from thy holy face, with the
dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord at thy birth…”
I think that Dr. Seuss had it beautifully and
brilliantly right. If you took away all of the “presents and tags, packages,
boxes and bags,” (including the roast beast), the Who’s would still
gather together, join hands and sing…
“Fahoo Foray, Dahoo Doray, Welcome Christmas,
Christmas Day…”
Anyway, here’s to a great year in 2014. I have high
hopes!
Katie
Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of
Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her
website: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com
