Happy Holidays!

There are some folk who will complain that I’ve used the very American phrase, ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of saying ‘Merry Christmas’ but then there are some folk that just like to complain. I like ‘Happy Holidays’. It’s all encompassing and given that I have friends who are atheist, Jewish, Muslim, probably Druid, Christian and ‘not really into any of that stuff’, it seems like the perfect couple of words to wish all of them well at this time of year. Besides, what I am celebrating today is not Christmas but the fact that it’s my last day of work before a two week break and much as I love my job I am very happy to be about to embark on my holidays. So. Happy Holidays indeed.

Besides, it’s not Christmas yet: it’s still the run up to Christmas, or Advent if you like. And I do like. This part of the traditional Christmas is probably my favourite as it’s all about the anticipation of good things to come. I make a point of not even thinking about Christmas until the 30th of November when I drag out the Advent calendars and then it’s a great joyous period of list-making. Of course the lists this year have mainly involved rescheduling Christmas to accommodate two adult children working in hospitality. Always a somewhat precarious career choice, covid has added an extra fragile dimension to what we laughingly call job security and while we had originally planned a mismuster Christmas just before New Year we now find ourselves with one extra adult at home as bookings have dried up and shifts evaporated so plans are being redrawn on the understanding that this may yet happen several times before we can all sit down for dinner together.

A little while ago I had not been looking forward to Christmas. The prospect of there only being three of us home had left me feeling flat about the whole show but then, as has been my wont this year, I made the conscious decision to be happy and grateful no matter what our festive season ended up looking like. All three children are working. That’s something to celebrate in and of itself. We’re all housed with beds to sleep in. We can afford to eat and pay to heat our homes. That’s something to be hugely grateful for. Anything beyond that is just so much tinsel really - nice to have but hardly necessary! If we end up not being all together until later in the year, so be it. If we are able to see some or any of each other at various points beofre then it’s just more opportunities to celebrate and enjoy. What will be, as the song goes, sera.