Suspended in Holiday Bliss

This month, important cabinet posts are being filled by President-Elect Obama. Interest rates are at record lows, almost zero. Foreclosures rise every day. Gorgeous forty-something "Friend" Jennifer Aniston posed nearly nude on the cover of GQ. A powerful governor is going down in flames, along with OJ, who's going there via prison. Deadlines, goals and benchmarks appear every day for me and my marketing team, and we work hard to meet and exceed them. The movers are coming to take Gary and me and all our possessions to Mission Viejo on January 6th. With all of this going on, why oh why do I feel somehow suspended in holiday bliss?

Technology plays a part in this. I can have holiday music that I love playing all day on my computer at work and at home (like now). Many web sites feature holiday light extravaganzas around the country. Others show videos of holiday celebrations. And I still have my "White Christmas" DVD and all those corny Lifetime and ABC/Family Channel holiday movies that cause me to spend way more than usual on bulk tissue at Costco every December.

My grandchildren are ubiquitous now. Last night we braved blinding rain and flooded streets to attend Keegan's first Christmas concert at his family's church in Garden Grove (believe me, it was nothing like driving in a Colorado blizzard, but to people in California, a serious rainstorm with temp's in the 40's is debilitating).

Tonight, in perfect chilly weather, we went with Keegan and Kendall and their accommodating parents to Balboa Island to watch the holiday boat parade and see the beautifully decorated harborside homes. People were strolling the waterfront in their mittens, Burberry scarves and down jackets as if we were in Wisconsin. My grandson, Keegan, whose mommy is from St. Peter, MN and daddy is from Golden, CO, went nuts over a snow-making machine that sprinkled soapy little globs on everyone that stopped to be in the presence of "snow." Another home featured a big snowman made of real snow trucked in from nearby mountains. More than once Keegan had to touch "Frosty," and oooh and ahhh about how cold it was. His experience was fun for me, because unlike his mom, dad and Papa, I was raised in Southern California where real snow was a very rare and exciting thing to behold.

My family seems to draw closer between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We gravitate to one another, no matter what's gone on the rest of the year that might have kept us apart.

Soldiers - our loved ones - are fighting in Iraq. Savings and retirement funds have been savaged by something seemingly beyond our control. We may have lost a job or been downsized to the point of doing the job of three people. Yet during this holiday month, it's as if the polar winds, trade winds or the simple winds of change blow family members together. My family suddenly likes to hang out, party, cook, share stories, bond, experience the changes (good and bad) in each other's personalities that happen from one year to the next. One thing is always the same - we still can't figure out fruit cake.

In the days between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, there is an amazing coming together of all kinds of people - friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, strangers. It happens in a way that diminishes the horrors and upsets that still occur. It's like the Who's down in Whoville who sang after the Grinch stole Christmas. We continue to gather in varieties of groups to enjoy the cherished, corny and very real traditions of the holiday season - joy, mirth, sharing, children, special food, winter, warmth, sentiment, cheer, colorful lights, decorations, candles, music, giving, appreciation, family, faith and love. This stuff just doesn't happen "in bulk" any other time of year. I guess that's why this month is my bliss.

Please have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. Next year we'll still be singing that our troubles will be out of sight.