The Holidays have arrived with full force. 

It’s the time of the year that is supposed to bring joy, happiness and excitement. It’s the time where kids believe in magical creations like the big ole man with white beard and big ole belly, tiny elves that build toys, and reindeers that fly in the sky. Imaginations that can take you anywhere. The parts where we all get to enjoy times with our loved ones and long standing holiday traditions that we haven’t parted ways with. The fun games we play or the tales we tell. Those are the parts that we love about the holidays, but we usually don’t get to enjoy those parts as much as we like. We get caught up in all the hustle and bustle of keeping up with everyone else around us. We lose what the real meaning of the holidays are about. 

We care too much about the materialistic things and what Bobby is getting and Mary has. Are they going to get something that my little Mae and Johnny are not going to get? Or, we are not going to go over to Granny’s house for Christmas this year because cousin Sue has done pissed us off because she said my sweet Fanny Mae had short fingers? Like, get over it Bobby Rae because Granny is terminally ill with cancer and she might not have much longer to live and you’re going to feel like a big pile of cow manure because you didn’t see Granny at Christmas. Just because someone said your annoying Fanny Mae has short fingers. People these days really think they’re important and have fragile egos. I’m telling ya, if I got my feelings hurt that bad I would just have to move off somewhere that I didn’t know a single person. 

This gets to my point! This holiday season is one that I’m very happy to celebrate with my friends, family and co-workers. I didn’t think I would make it to the holiday season this year and neither did my doctors. I had too much with my health going against me. I really thought Christmas of 2023 would have been my last Christmas. I kind of prepared my family that 2023 would be my last one. I wanted to make sure that I would be fun and not sad. No crying, but laughter and smiles. Everyone pretty much made that happen. A year later I’m still here. Not to say I’ve been through hell to get here and I’ve fought hard and many times I’ve asked the lord why He is keeping me on this earth. I just wanted to die. The pain and suffering was too much at the time. When I would ask those things, the next day it would be like I would wake up as a new person. I would still have pain, and struggles but nothing like the days before. 

This year has not been great. But it has been a true blessing that I have made it this far. The Holidays are a time that I do get sad because I don’t know what my health will bring me in the upcoming year. So, I do get sad thinking that it could be my last Thanksgiving or my last Christmas. All the traditions that I cherish with my family will be the last time I get to hunt for my present or spend Christmas Eve with my aunts. These are the things that I wish people would stop and really think about and soak up the memories because the people and the memories can fade away quickly. The people who you think are going to fade away like the elderly grandmothers or grandfathers could not be the ones. It’s the 29 year olds who were completely healthy. I’m writing this on November 27th, 2024, my 2 year anniversary of me finding out that I had heart tumors in 2022. I’m blessed to say I’ve beat the prognosis so far, but my health is still hairy. 

This Holiday season I decided that when that sadness starts to hit, I’m going to think of all the past Holiday memories that I’ve had and shared with my family and friends, ones that are and ones that have passed. The memories that I have cherished and still to this day talk about and bring up around the table. Memories that we can laugh and cry about, that bring up joy and happiness. This Holiday season is not about gifts, making sure everybody has equal or all of that hooplah stuff. This Holiday season is about making memories, enjoying each other’s company, and celebrating the true thing that we are meant to celebrate– the birth of Jesus Christ. Showing love to one another and just giving thanks and blessing that we are able to have one more year to celebrate the Holiday seasons and the birth of Jesus Christ.