*ahem*
AND, welcome back.
Well, things around here were abandoned momentarily for the seasonal fun and festivity that can only occur when you are trapped in London over the holidays with four of your dearest pals.
And OH, the fun and festivity.
I have to say, my original hesitation and even slight depression about being without family for Christmas for the first time in 27 years was quickly diminished once I realised that the celebration of Christmas in an entirely different thing when you eliminate the stress of driving 6 hours on icey streets to get to family, and then being trapped and shuffled around from family to family for the next 7 days.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my family, and I love Christmas with them, but it was nice to have a change this year. To have a chance to think about what Christmas means to me.
I know why we celebrate Christmas. I did, at one time, belong to a church.
However, my brush with Christianity was just that - a very minor brush. My parents went to a very oatmeal form of United Church, where I would sit in the basement of a community hall and glue cotton balls onto paper cut-outs of sheep while my parents sang hymns upstairs. Religion never really resonated with me - I just never really understood why I was there. When I hit the age of about 11 or 12, my parents wanted me to attend Confirmation classes, and I refused. They accepted my decision after only a minor protest, and shortly thereafter, my family dropped the Sunday morning ceremony altogether.
So for me, Christmas has never really been about religion. I know what this day represents, and I whole-heartedly respect anyone who does hold fast to that - but for me, Christmas has always been about family. I only fully realised that once my family was absent from it.
It is most likely a result of this that made it very important to me that no-one be alone this Christmas, so I rallied all 'orphans' that were known to me and we feasted at my house. We spent the day eating and drinking and generally lazing about. And it was lovely. I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with some of my oldest and loveliest and dearest friends, and that would probably never had happened if we hadn't all taken the leap and left home and family in search of adventure and change.
I think that in general, the concept of Christmas has become more about shopping and shiny things then about what is should be, a day to cherish, to be thankful for, everything and everyone around you.
I may have been without family this year, but my friends were a more than adequate replacement, and in all honesty, are very much my family here.
I hope that you had a lovely holiday, and celebrated it (or didn't) in whatever way that was perfect for you. Maybe for you, it's just an excuse to drink rum & eggnog.
Fair enough.
