’tis the season

I can’t count how many times I’ve said how much I hate Christmas. Sure, it’s fun to get the occassional gift or two; and nothing beats the feeling of being able to share. However, this is also the time of year when you feel compelled to give to people you don’t really care about, but must do so out of shame or to avoid being branded the scrooge of your family or workplace. It’s when you stress about what to wear on Christmas parties for work, when all you’d do is eat all the lechon you can manage and grumpily participate in silly parlor games for some petty cash. If you’re even luckier, you have this one huge clan that holds the annual Christmas bash with endless dancing and annoying karaoke until the sun rises the next day. All that… I can tolerate. But what bugs me is how everyone finds the time and effort to do all these things, just because it’s Christmas. Next day, most of our jolly Santa Clauses return to being the self-centered, grouchy hypocrites that they are during the rest of the year.

For the past several years, the only thing about the holidays that I looked forward to was the annual Christmas thing I had with my closest friends. This year, I don’t even know if I am still considered a friend, so what’s the use of expecting a frikkin celebration.

Yes, I hate it.  Even the radio stations that repeatedly play those Christmas songs annoy me. I cringe at the sight of children singing Christmas carols around the subdivision. Believe me, it’s this bad. I have become such a grinch to the point that it’s already embarrassing.

So thank you… for making it not seem so bad. At least now, I feel some sort of alien excitement because you have a magical way of making me look forward to each tidbit of time we would spend together. We’ve been planning fancy dinners and looking for new places to visit. But you know what, we can eat fishballs and sit on the sidewalk and I don’t care. We can talk about the same things over and over again, sit on the same bench for hours and I’d still be happy. You love the holidays, and you know I hate it. Still, I will rest my head on your shoulder as we watch the Christmas lights flicker; and somehow I know everything will be just fine.