Christmas Is Not Lost

Last month I enjoyed an extended Thanksgiving break while school was keeping everyone home to self isolate in hopes to bring down the number of quarantine and positive cases in the buildings. I feared the struggle of returning would be so real that pulling myself from my warm bed, along with bus attendance duty on a 20° morning would feel like a death sentence. I haven’t had an [outdoor] duty in 10 years. Turns out being outside regardless the temperature is a refreshing addition to the early morning of my day. 

I found myself those last three days before returning to the office just sitting with a cup of coffee in the morning, staring at the Christmas tree, thinking about all the things that I will miss this holiday season. 

I long to sit inside Powell Hall for a symphony performance of Christmas music. Just the thought of watching the violin bows all in sync with each other as they play, Mmmm, ahhhh. My heart ached for mine and King Ralph’s yearly Christmas date to The Rep theater to see a Christmas themed play. I missed an evening of strolling the Botanical Garden for the Garden Glow. I miss the idea of all the cousins, nieces and nephews together in one room sipping cocktails, filling plates with delicious foods and laughing while playing games. I will miss my winter break coffee and breakfast dates with friends. Instead, I  have gotten my symphony music piped through my house via Alexa, replaced the theater with endless Christmas movies on Netflix. The Garden Glow was replaced with drives through neighborhoods to enjoy house displays...  As for the cousins, nieces and nephews, we had a “Christmas Tree Walk.”  We spent an evening blowing up our group text with photos of our trees adorned in lights and ornaments. We saw trees with vintage garlands and one with a most magnificent train board. There were real trees that’s pine scents almost transcended the cell towers. The love for, the longing to be together as a family was evident in each picture of a tree. 

My humble abode  bursts with the look of Christmas. My tree stands tall and adorned in lights and ornaments that remind me of the places we’ve traveled as a family. The vintage ornaments I inherited from grandma are peppered throughout the tree. The defuser puts out a lovely pine scent making the artificial tree feel ever more real. The house eves and shrubs glow in the night with multi-color lights. All that and still there’s a quietness to the holiday season. 

This holiday season is different. This year is different. King Ralph can often be heard saying “Jodi it’s just one year.” He’s right. One year. One year of loving extended family and friends from a distance. One year of masked faces. One year of altered holiday fun. 

We can all handle alterations to celebrations for one darn year. 

There is one thing that won’t change—the love we share with our girls. If they’re our safety bubble of celebration I’ll take it! 

This girl softly smiles and says, “Happy Christmas to all, season of lights and love.”