Category Archives: Holidays

And a Happy New Year!

This Christmas stocking is more than 50 years old.

 It was knitted by my Italian grandmother, and every one of her more than twenty grandchildren was given one. Then all her grandchildren’s husbands and wives received one, and their children, and their children’s children. How many are out there now? Sixty? Seventy? I tried to count but couldn’t figure it out.

Every Christmas for more than sixty years one has been hung somewhere, stuffed with the sort of things you stuff in a stocking. Go to any of my cousin’s homes and you’ll see them. Today, the great, great grandchildren have them, knitted these days by someone my aunt knows.

This is my favorite Christmas tradition.

The idea that so many in my family — kids and adults — have reached into these stockings for so many years, stockings that are nearly identical, some fresh and bright, others showing their age and yellowing a bit. From Hawaii to Florida and across Upstate New York, it’s something that binds us together, and when I hang them up I feel a connection. It’s a powerful thing, and to me, it’s what Christmas is all about.

My wife Ann chimed in: “Yes, actually there is an ‘I’ in Christmas.”

Oh, whatever! Look, I’m deep in the throes of a Black Friday food hangover, and you expect me to spell? This was during our annual Christmas tree harvest, and somebody had complained about slogging through the gooey mud at Bob’s Trees. Suck it up! No I in Christmas!

Easy for me to say, because I was walking behind the boys supervising their trudge with the tree.

This year was sort of a milestone because we allowed our youngest to wield the saw. Cutting the tree is a HUGE responsibility, but he did a fine job despite the challenge posed by its girthy trunk.

Overall, we were having a good day. No arguments, manageable mud conditions, an excellent selection of trees… this was a good year. And I know the difference.  After more than twenty-five years of cutting down Christmas trees, I’ve seen every variety of trouble.

Except for one.

In a giddy state from having other people do all the work, I let the boys (ages 24 and 17) tie the tree to the top of the car. This is something I’ve always done myself, and except for that time I tied the doors of the car shut, there was never any problem. However, when I looked up through the sunroof to admire the stump of our freshly cut tree, I noticed that it had shifted considerably while we were on the Northway.

It doesn’t take much imagination to picture what it would look like if your tree went tumbling off the top of the car at 70 MPH… or if it got loose and was dragged behind. At the risk of offending the young men sitting in the back, I got out and pulled the ropes tighter than a… oh, nevermind.

So, wrap up your Christmas with a bow if you like — I’ll fasten mine down with a nylon rope.

I am most thankful this year that I got to watch my son march off his plane from Afghanistan wearing these boots. For a parent, ten fingers and ten toes never gets boring.

I’m grateful for my wonderful wife and our 25 years together. These days, that’s quite an accomplishment. My family means more to me than anything.

And for the dogs and cats I say thank you. They adore me no matter what I say or do.

I’m thankful for the things I learned this year, even if I learned them the hard way.

Thankful for my job? Yes — and I’m sorry I’ve complained about it sometimes when so many people are unemployed.

You know, I’m also thankful I can run four miles. That’s not as far as I could once run, but it’s better than a year ago. So that’s a plus.

This will sound odd, but I have to say I’m thankful for iPods. It’s a miracle that I can take the music I love anywhere.

It’s impossible to list everything I’m thankful for. Most of them are small things that bring me joy, but isn’t that the secret of life? To find great pleasure in the tiny bits.