By Dixon Bledsoe
We’ve all been there. The holiday funk. You wake up and lethargy sets in. The tree needs to get up before New Year’s, and some might even argue before Christmas Day. You recall that some people even put ornaments on them. The lights are still in a tangle from last year. What do you get friends and loved ones for Christmas? Gift cards are so cliché’ but in many ways so practical since gift cards and money are the gifts that never get returned. Yet gift cards absolutely squash the childhood memories of presents engulfing the room around the tree. Money gets tight. You run into the conflict of the commercialization of Christmas versus the true Reason for the Season. You have nightmares about the office Christmas party and if you are going to get another stuffed armadillo as a white elephant gift, or worse, watch people fighting over the stupid thing. How do you celebrate with your atheist or agnostic friends? How many Hanukah cards do you need, and do you put a “C” in front or just the “H.” Chanukah? Kwanzaa? Someone you were not expecting to do so gives you a gift. What do you do in return? Re-Gift, ensuring that you don’t give her the gift that she caught you off guard with last year?
It is hard at the holidays. Depression can set in. Relationship woes, financial struggles, choices between an energy bill and the Frozen DVD your daughter really wants. You may have lost a loved one, and trust me, that is traumatic for a lot of people this year. How do you put up a good front when inside you are crying, lonely, a bit lost, broke and trying to recapture the spirit of Christmases past?
No easy answers here. But this is the season of giving. Of worshipping. Of loving and of music and caring. Of connecting, rekindling and celebrating. Oh, and of Russian Tea Cake cookies, too. As we reflect on the season, we can appreciate the people in our lives that make a difference, or who have overcome hurdles, and who, like the Rotary motto, put “Service above self.”
Molly Newman has my utmost respect. The Silverton mother of three children under five is studying to be a nurse, works as a health unit coordinator at Silverton Health and has a husband, Alex, deployed with the Army National Guard’s 2/162 Bravo Company in Afghanistan. Just thinking about the extra efforts she has to put in each day to be a great but temporarily single parent, focused student, daughter, friend, diligent medical professional and long-distance wife makes my head spin, and takes a major chunk out of my own seasonal grump.
I went to Taco Bell/KFC this week. The Colonel and I have had some memorable experiences over the years, especially when Chicken Pot Pie is on the menu and woes are worrisome. There was a young man who I will call “Nathan.” Actually, his name really is Nathan. As I stew over the many things going on in my life, Nathan appears, and I leave the restaurant in a substantially better mood than when I came in. He was absolutely engaging. Funny, clever, loud, warm, witty, and not what you might expect when you come looking for the Original Recipe. He got the door as people were leaving. Wiped down tables, asked if we needed refills, and said “I got your back” numerous times in reference to getting us a napkin or picking up our trash at the table. Even people who came in looking like “Grumpy Cat” left laughing or smiling. He wants to attend Willamette and get a degree in law. I’m sure he will be loosening up crabby judges soon.
Teresa Warriner, executive director of Silverton Area Community Aid, Inc, is a blessing. Her hours on the job increase meteorically during the holiday season because the demands for food, money and her time are so great. But she and her staff as well as numerous volunteers are doing a magnificent job with those in great need for SACA services. A true mega-star in our social service universe.
And then there is the “Diaper.” Nothing gets me out of a “mood” and into good humor than seeing the re-make of Miracle on 34th Street with my daughter and tiny little kids. I saw a mom walking on Water Street with an 18-month old in tow. The mom was tall, the girl diminutive and wrapped up to ward off the cold, taking five steps to her mother’s one. Her outfit was replete with tiny boots, mega-sized stocking cap, and colorful pants hiding an enormous diaper. She stopped to look at everything – Christmas lights, bugs, puppy tails, rocks and kitty cats. It made me stop and think about how a child sees the holiday season – the sheer joy, the wonder, the surprises, the story of Christ’s birth through live re-tellings at church and a jolly old elf whose reindeer can fly. And then my heart warms up.
