December 24, 2013

  • It's Christmas again

    So we come to yet another Christmas in the great land of Oz. This will be my 47th Christmas but it is most likely that I only remember about 44 of them since I'm not one of those people who can remember much before I turned 5 years of age. I can only assume that my family celebrated Christmas during those years but I can't find any photographic evidence of the events and the only people who could give me that information are either dead or insane (or both).

    Christmas lunch has always been my favourite part of the day. Honestly speaking, after the gifts had been unwrapped and either excitement or disappointment at what was revealed, it all got a bit slow so looking forward to the feast that my mother spent hours preparing became the highlight of the day. When we were kids, it was always roast turkey, lamb and beef (no pork for some reason), baked potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes (white) and onions plus miscellaneous other vegetables with the goodness boiled out of them with dessert being plum pudding and custard/cream.

    Even after we all grew up and family life moved on in its various ways, the one constant at Christmas was that we had a family lunch and this was a tradition that continued right up to my mothers passing in 2000. That year was a much more subdued affair but there was still a big Christmas meal even if it was just my brother and our uncle in attendance.

    That's the thing about Christmas though. It's the one day of the year that families gather together and forget their petty squabbling for a few hours. My younger brother lives in Tasmania nowdays but we always communicate on Christmas Day in some way (facebook, text or even a phone call). Unfortunately, I probably won't hear from my older brother again this year, but that's a choice he made a long time ago. The main thing that I took from all of those Christmas lunches growing up is that no matter what differences you may have, family is important.

    My family isn't just the people I am related to anymore. I don't believe that family should be restricted to the people you are related to either through blood or marriage. I've met a lot of people who I think of as family. They're the people I enjoy spending time with and who for some strange reason enjoy spending time with me despite all of my social flaws. It's because of this, I never have to spend my Christmas alone - there are always people out there who are happy to invite me into their homes to share their family day with me.

    So wherever you are in the world on Christmas day and whoever you are spending the day with, think of that as your home and the people as your family. Home is where the heart is and family is the people you love.

    I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that wherever you are on the day that you enjoy the company of the family and/or friends you are with.