Here is No Why

<-"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" |Main|I'm Tired of Boring Music->

'Twas the Night Before Christmas . . . .

December 24, 2007 10:16 PM

s I've said, this is the first Christmas I'm spending apart from all members of my family. I can remember one Christmas when I was a teenager that I spent in California with my aunt and cousins rather than my mom and grandma, but I think that was the only time I haven't been with my mom for Christmas. So, I'm sort of bummed. But not super bummed. I mean, it sucks that I'm not there, but it's not the end of the world, and I'll get to see them really soon. And my mom promised that whenever I make it home next time, she'll cook up a giant meal like she always does on Christmas. I don't know whether that will actually happen--or whether I'll hold her to it--but it made me feel better. And, besides, it's not the food that I miss most--although I certainly miss it--it's my family. So, to commemorate how awesome both my family and Christmas are, I'm going to share some of my favorite Christmas memories. So here they are, in no particular order.

My first white Christmas. I grew up in Southern Arizona which, unlike Northern Arizona, does not get snow very often. It snows sometimes, but even then it's not very much and it's all gone almost instantaneously. Because of that, I had always hoped that we'd have some sort of Christmas miracle and have a white Christmas. One year when I was pretty young--I don't think I was older than seven, maybe--a bunch of my family came to visit us. I remember being in my dining room after most people had gone to sleep. I think the only people that were still awake were me, my mom, and my aunt. Anyway, I looked out the sliding-glass door, and I could see that there was some snow falling. I got really excited. And then I went to bed. When I got up, there was about a foot of snow on the ground. It was fucking awesome. I remember that my mom's Suburban had shit-tons of snow on the roof, and that our back yard was a winter wonderland. It was beautiful and awesome. And we all played around in it. It's probably still my favorite Christmas memory.
Getting an adding machine for Christmas. I don't have any idea why, but one Christmas--again when I was pretty young--I really wanted an adding machine. Like a calculator that also printed stuff out. I have no idea what the fuck I was thinking, but I really wanted one. Like I wanted to play accountant or something. Anyway, my mom chose to indulge my rather ridiculous Christmas wish and bought me one. And it was awesome. For me, unwrapping that box and seeing an adding machine is the epitome of getting exactly what you wanted for Christmas, even though my mom always did her best to get me the ridiculous stuff I asked for.
Getting The Aeroplane Fies High from my cousin. That time I spent Christmas with my cousins in California was during the height of my teen years and, therefore, of my obsession with The Smashing Pumpkins. They had just released their box set, and I remember freaking out about the fact that I wasn't going to be able to afford it and that I wouldn't ever be able to get it because they'd sell out and then the world would end and I'd never get to hear all the new songs. So imagine my glee when I unwrapped a present from my cousin to find the black and white package shining back at me. I was ecstatic. Although I'm notoriously terrible at caring for CDs--I've gone through about ten copies of Melon Collie alone in the past ten years--I've never let any harm come to that box set, and it sits proudly displayed on my otherwise neglected CD shelf. I'd say that this was definitely the best unsolicited Christmas present I've ever gotten.
My first electric guitar. A lot of you know about how I got my first electric guitar--my mom bribed me with it so that I'd cut my hair when I was fourteen. But that wasn't actually my first electric guitar. No, I had actually received an electric guitar much earlier, when I was about four or so, I think. Granted, it was baby blue, had buttons instead of strings, and was more of an electric children's toy than a guitar, but I think it counts for the purposes of this story. In any event, it was a gift from my aunt, and it was awesome. Although, now that I think about it, I'm not sure that it was a Christmas gift... whatever, it was cool.
Christmas at my grandma's house. For the vast majority of my childhood, my grandma lived in the house next door to us. We actually bought a really big lot for the express purpose of building a house for her on the rest of our land. Although my immediate family almost never hung out at my grandma's house when it was just the three of us, that's where we did pretty much everything when my extended family was around. I remember one Christmas in particular with almost my whole family. I can't remember how old I was. It was before I started playing guitar, so I was maybe twelve or thirteen. In any event, I remember sitting around the Christmas tree in my grandma's living room with all the lights out except the tree and the fire. And I remember exchanging gifts. My cousin's son had asked for a flashlight, thus continuing the tradition of strange Christmas requests. And my aunt got him a flashlight. But his mom also got him a guitar and guitar lessons. It's not so much all of that that made it an awesome Christmas, it's just that I remember all sitting around and going through all the gifts--I think I got Legos or something--and being really happy to be surrounded by everyone. It was awesome.

Anyway, there are a lot more, but those are just the ones that stick out in my memory right now. And it's those memories that keep me from getting really depressed today, and that will keep me out of depression tomorrow. That and my friends who have invited me to dinner. Plus, I also know that I'll see my family soon enough, and definitely next year. So I'm not too sad. I just miss them all.

But the point is: Merry Christmas, everyone.

2 Comments

TheExpat said:

Adding machines are fun when you're a kid! I used to ask to use my mom's or my sister's whenever they took me to work with them.

Nogales doesn't get much snow, eh? I lived in Sierra Vista for a couple years, and one year we had a white Christmas. It was awesome. Our whole backyard was covered in a modest 6 inches of snow. I was elated, and I didn't even want to play with my toys much, I just wanted to go outside and make a snowman with my sister.

December 27, 2007 10:50 PM

estefanita said:

We have the same favorites up to aeroplane!!!!! I remember that white christmas!!! We were younger than 8 for sure but older than 6. Umm I guess that would make us 7? and I wanted and got an adding machine too! and of course any christmas memory would be happy with a smashing pumpkins box set!!! but unlike you i'm not too sure where my box ended up.
I spent christmas away from the family too but when my husband and i talked about our favorite memories the white christmas and box set ones were in the top 3!
Hope you had a good one and have a happy new year.

December 28, 2007 9:01 AM