Global Voice Magazine
W HAT I S T H E MEANING OF CHRISTMAS? Pris cilla Kohutek
Christmas means different things to different people. For some people, it is a time full o f l o v e a n d g o o d c h e e r. T h e y welcome the season with eager anticipation. They harbor wonderful memories and feel all warm and fuzzy when they reminisce about holidays past. Pe o p l e l i k e t h i s a r e f u n t o b e around during the Christmas S eason. Their attitudes are contagious. They make us all feel good. Ho w e v e r, m a n y p e o p l e d r e a d the holiday season and prefer to ignore Christmas rather than to celebrate it. They are reminded of Christmases past t h a t w e r e n o t s o m e r r y. S a d l y, many of thes e p eople s eem to take great pleasure in ruining Christmas for as many others as possible, especially their children. They wallow in their
miser y and revel in relating their sad experiences. The worst par t is that the y p erpetuate their miser y through their children. These poor kids w o n’t h a v e p l e a s a n t m e m o r i e s o f C h r i s t m a s e i t h e r. T h e s t o r i e s v a r y. He r e’s a sampling: “I remember the year we lost the family busin e s s . We h a d n o m o n e y t o celebrate Christmas and not m u c h f o r C h r i s t m a s d i n n e r. Things got better and our situation improved, but I’ ll never forget that Christmas. I prefer t o i g n o r e C h r i s t m a s d a y s o I ’m not reminded of that horrible y e a r.” One woman said that she hates the holidays because it was just an excuse for her alcoholic father to drink. Ever y Christmas was ruined when he got drunk and became abusive.
Another man says that C h r i s t m a s d o e s n’t m e a n m u c h to him because they were a militar y family that moved around a lot. Many years t h e y w e r e n’t e v e n t o g e t h e r a t Christmas so they treated it like any another day—nothing special. To t h e s e p e o p l e , I s a y t h a t i t’s t i m e t o l e t i t g o ! T h e p a s t i s p a s t . We c a n’t c h a n g e i t ; s o, get over it and move for ward. Yo u r c h i l d r e n a r e n’t r e s p o n s i ble for your misfortune. They d e s e r v e b e t t e r, a n d y o u o w e i t to them. S t a r t r e b u i l d i n g t h i s y e a r. Stop focusing on yourself and concentrate on ways to make things better for your children.
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