The Happiest of Holidays to All!

I'm a huge fan of Christmas. I'm not a fan of huge Christmases.

I've enough years that I'm no longer offended by the superstitions of religion and tradition the surround the holiday. Indeed, I'm as likely to explain the importance of those legends as I am to point out they are logically refutable. I can now see the stories without literally believing in fantasy worlds. The pageantry that surrounds Christmas still escapes me, though.

My mother trained me to expect the "big gift" to be the last one presented, sometimes finding it as I climbed in my bed. Thankfully this doesn't happen to such an extreme, so I'm not teetering on edge all Christmas.

There were years when my wife and my mother seemed to be in competition. The tree's circumference of gifts rivaled its height. Many of those Christmases were marred with bored (or scowling) faces that were required to open more gifts, with no time left to play with them. It was pronounced if a child already received what they wanted and had to wait until the underwear was opened.

Along the years I stopped buying gifts for everyone. I found no point unless they truly meant something more by coming from me. Those are few and far between, but I can tell they are a bit more appreciated than the random *-Mart "Gift for Him/Her/It". These are made easy to give if I have a technical or artistic bond with the person. Truth is if I don't interact with you regularly, I probably do not know you well enough to choose a good gift. I leave the ties and underwear to your spouse and mom, you should make more time for them the 25th.

My love of the Christmas feast has faded in the last few years as my body now rejects much of it. I might risk a taste of ham then fill myself with vegetables so that I might celebrate the new year also. No need to rush the year's first gout attack.

This philosophy suits my wife just fine - excusing her excesses and allowing her to gift for two. As the family grows she get to do more and more shopping - no small feat with five grandchildren.

So the gifting, feasting, and my denunciation of superstitions have all waned. This leaves one thing to celebrate, the people in my life.

I am ever so grateful that it takes BOTH hands to count the important people in my life these days. Past years were so much leaner, mostly because I liked that. Happily the three or four people I did allow found others and introduced me to them, and a more fulfilling life.

This year will bring at least two family gatherings, and a third gathering will be shared by beloved friends. The week of Christmas I'll be performing twice for disabled and elderly audiences as I have been all year. This year's audiences have taught me as much about humanity as anything I've done before. Nothing fills my heart like the twinkle in the eye of a bedridden patient or hearing "such good memories" between the sobs of music remembered. I become better as a performer and a person with each show.

My biggest gift this year is my gratitude to those people that have wrested me from my solitude, continue to introduce to more people, and expand my connection with humanity.

Best of all I still find my greatest gift late in the evening, my wife, by my side when Christmas ends.