Christmas hasn’t always been a happy time for me. Something about losing a parent takes some of the sparkle off the lights dangling from the Christmas tree. For several years after Daddy died I was indifferent towards the holidays. I wasn’t in a good frame of mind. I found it mildly irritating when Mixed 92.9 played Christmas music for two…whole…months in 2020.
It’s not like I went around shouting about boiling pudding or stakes of holly in people’s hearts. I just wasn’t into Christmas.
But I’m in a better headspace now. I have more peace. I’m feeling festive. I even cooked a pot of chili to a Christmas playlist on my phone while I filled my whole house with the lingering smell of garlic and onions. My sister walked into the kitchen while I cut up a bell pepper and said “You’re feeling festive.”
The courthouse lit up for the holidays. Canon Rebel T7i.
The line at Muletown Coffee before the parade. Canon Rebel T7i.
Festive enough that I went to the tree-lighting in Columbia, Tennessee this year. Three Saturdays ago, my friends informed me that they were going and that I was welcome. No one told me that they lit the tree after a parade, not that I minded. A Christmas parade would’ve sounded more interesting than lighting a Christmas tree, anyway. Parking in downtown Columbia for an event takes way too much effort to watch a guy in a Santa suit flip a switch and then turn around and leave. If I’m going to go to the trouble of finding a good parking spot, I might as well have candy hurled at me and watch the local Rotary Club float scoot by.
The parade was warm. Not the air. The air was cold. I mean the parade brought back the warm and cozy feelings of yesteryear, watching the parade in my hometown of Clinton. When I finally accepted Hot Hands from my friend Jordan, my palms matched the feeling in my heart. My friend Mitch was among the group standing with me behind the galvanized barricade. We found a spot near Muletown Coffee, where we met his son Dayne’s “friend” who is a female. A vetting process for this “friend” may or may not have taken place that night by us bystanders in the know, watching the young couple while they talked in low voices nearby.
Getting a better view. Canon Rebel T71
Discussions in the crowd. Canon Rebel T7i.
Floats floated. Dancers danced. Lords a-leaped. One guy with the Smyrna Ready Mix float gave us half a bag of candy. High school marching bands went by in ugly Christmas sweaters. It was wonderful.
Since that parade, I bought a Christmas wreath at Krogers, which is real and rains needles on the floor when you look at it the wrong way. It took me four tries and an hour of effort to hang it. My little pre-lit artificial Christmas tree has a fun little Santa hat sitting on top of it, casting a warm glow on my keyboard as I type this.
If you’re out there and Christmas isn’t fun for you, I hope it gets better over time. Don’t feel like you have to be happy. Own your feelings and savor them, whatever they are. But when you’re ready to vacuum up pine needles from your front hallway and hang a Christmas wreath, I’d be glad to lend you some double-sided tape.
In daddy’s arms. Canon Rebel T7i.