Christmas Is Love. Christmas Is Hope.
December 23, 2020
Harriet Hawkins
Christmas 2020 will be like none we have ever seen before. Those used to being with family and friends will be home alone. No big parties. No office celebration. No potluck meals. Many are lamenting this spoiled holiday due to quarantines and rules.
In 1969, I was a new 21-year-old nurse working 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at my first job. And you guessed it – I had to work on Christmas. Not only Christmas but I had to work Decmeber 24, 25, and 26. This meant that I could not go to my parent’s home in Wisconsin until December 27. And that was not the worst part. I had siblings aged 16, 14, 12, and 8. I assumed that Christmas would go on without me and I would see them all when I got there on the 27th. My Mother, however had other plans. She decided that we would have Christmas on December 27. It did not matter what the date was. What mattered was that we were together. So, on Christmas Day my siblings got to open their stockings and play with their one gift from Santa, while all the presents lay wrapped under the tree. When I called on Christmas Day, I was moved to tears to hear that they were waiting for me – that they were even waiting for me for the traditional dinner. This was the first time that Christmas was celebrated on a day other than December 25, but it was not the last. Over the years I have worked many Christmas Eves and Days and, until my Mother died in 1994, the celebration was held when I was home – or sometimes until several of us could all be there at the same time.
Just this past month, I spoke with two of my siblings (the youngest and the oldest), talking about Christmas, what we would miss, and the change in the celebrations. Neither of them remembers anything about having to wait for Christmas. Ever. What they remember is our time together and the fun we had.
Christmas 2020 will be like none we have ever seen before. A different kind of celebration. But, thanks to technology, we can be "with" our family and friends. I am already scheduling face time calls with nieces and nephews and some WhatsApp calls with friends in other countries. This year I can be with all 11 of my great nieces and nephews and can talk to them and watch them open their presents. No, it will not be the same as being with them, but then I would not have been able to be with them all anyway, due to distance and space.
Christmas is not a date. It is family and friends. Christmas is love and caring and sharing. And Christmas is hope – the hope that the Christ child brings to us. So rather than lament what I do not have, I am choosing to embrace this new kind of celebration. I will miss the hugs, though. And I look forward to the spring when I can hopefully see and hug my family in person.
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” Thich Nhat Hanh
I hope and pray that 2021 will be better for us all and that we can embrace and enjoy this strange Christmas.
