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A Word from A
WAHM
"My
Holiday Vision"
- ©
1999, by Cheryl Demas
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Each year as we prepare for the holidays,
I have visions of a beautifully decorated house, with the scents
of freshly baked apple pie, happy family members joyously stringing
popcorn, and crackling fires. The reality however, is always
another story. Maybe this year, I think, we will have a Martha
Stewart holiday season. Iíll go along with my oldest daughter,
the Martha Stewart fan, and make garlands from fresh evergreen
boughs. Our Christmas tree will have a unified theme and color
scheme, we'll go to the ballet, all pies will be made from scratch,
the stuffing will be an exotic blend of wild rice and corn bread.
No Stove Top this year!
So I start to unpack the ornaments.
I pull out the little Baby Jesus in a Walnut Shell that Nicki
made when she was in Kindergarten. Next, I find the homemade
reindeer, his antlers made from tracing her little hands. I put
them back in the box, there's no room for these decorations in
my "Perfect Holiday" vision.
At church, the children are practicing
for the annual Christmas Pageant. The youngest baby Jesus we
can find is 10 months old, Mary is allergic to the hay, the shepherds
are fighting over who gets to carry the biggest stick. The wise
men are wearing bath robes for their costumes. This is not a
high class Nutcracker Ballet production.
But then I think about the kind
of holiday we would have without these things that have become
traditions in our family. The vision looks beautiful but it feels
empty. I imagine we could do the "fantasy holiday"
if we really wanted to, but how I would miss that Hand Print
Reindeer hanging on the wall. I want to watch the kids at church
perform the Christmas Story. Yes, most of our decorations do
consist of glued macaroni and walnut shells. These things might
not fit the vision of a "Perfect Holiday Season" but
theyíre my vision of how the holidays should be, and I
don't want to change a thing.
So bring on the Stove Top and
Cool Whip, the holidays are here!
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