The city is filled with lights and bumper to bumper traffic, holiday tunes are all over the radio, last minute gifts are being packed. And for some inexplicable reason, I'm getting the blues.
Not to be a grinch --but that wonderful joy that came with being a kid and waiting for Santa to come around on Christmas eve to distribute gifts and hear us sing "petit papa noel," it's gone now.
When we were children, Christmas was all about the presents. How many will be under the tree, did the letter to Santa arrive, am I getting everything I asked for?
Then as we get older, well, it's still about the presents. But it also becomes about family. You start to appreciate being around the people you love, and although Christmas is just an excuse to get together, it has this sort of magical power that helps people mend tensions and brings everyone together. The airport is filled with people trying to get to their families after days of backed up flights and snowstorms, because everyone wants to get home before the turkey is out of the oven.
And as the years go by, it becomes about the people you miss. The faces that aren't around the table anymore, only around us, in picture frames. And although we miss them every day, somehow, on a day like Christmas, we miss them more.
And that's for the lucky ones. Others live through Christmas like they do on any other given day, in misery, without any food, in a refugee camp, or in a hospital. There are no presents and no families. No trees, no lights, no holiday tunes.
So here's a thought: for Christmas, say a prayer. For those we miss, and for those who miss out on everything.
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