In Reply to: Tis the Season posted by CB on October 11, 2005 at 13:22:01:
Christmas was generally a time that was pleasant to me in my abusive family of origin. Probably because EVERYBODY including us kids were consuming alcohol either in the form of brandied fruit, eggnog made with Bourbon, wine or other alcoholic beverages and at times all of the above.
Everyone was pretty mellow and so that even when it was tense it just didn't seem so bad.
Later though, after I was an adult and after leaving the family, I would hibernate between Thanksgiving and Christmas because I did not have family to go home to and THE FAMILY experiences of usually very meager Christmas within the homes I was in was really depressing in memory.
Today, I love the holidays as I have my own family now and love to decorate and make my own rituals. They are not based around lots of presents but nice things I mostly got from my domestic partner. She makes this wonderful Cocoa with cinnamon sticks for stirring..
Also, we cook meals and invite people over, or are invited to them from her children or mine.
We sit out on our deck with coffee and play gin rummy or just talk. We walk our dogs, go to events that are relaxing. Tour decorated neighborhoods on foot.
My favorite holiday is HALLOWEEN. I love the escapism of America's one day "carnival" where I can be whomever I want to be--if I want to. I am decorating for that now.
I am very glad I don't crawl in a hole to hibernate anymore.