CHRISTMAS “CRY”SIS

 

As mentioned in a previous Christmas story, both Tim and me LIVED for each Christmas when we were young kids. It was one of the biggest, if not the biggest event in our life each year. The closest possible contender big event was the very rare night I didn’t wet the bed. (Now that I think about it, Christmas came more often than that in those early years). Those who know me, know that I am easily taken over by emotions such as excitement, sadness, anxiety, etc., due to the fact that I tend to be somewhat “right brained” for a guy (as opposed to “left brained” which is less emotional and more analytical). Before I got much better control over emotions (“better living through LEGAL chemistry”), as a kid I was more or less ruled by overboard emotions. One bad result of this was on Christmas morning. One thing both Tim and me always insisted on is to get up and open presents on Christmas morning while it was still dark. In fact, I still prefer to do this, but, alas, the older I get, the more I find myself doing this “when it’s light out.” Until I was around 11 or so (some say much older, but I dispute that), I would get up probably around 3:00 AM or so and go into our mother and father’s room and excitedly say, “Can we all go down and open presents now!!!” One and/or both of them would say in a very low, sleepy, volume, “WHHHAAABBBBBTHWRNDNTH,” which I interpreted to probably mean ‘NO”! What never occurred to me at that time, was that our parents would go to my maternal grandparents place every Christmas eve since they celebrated Christmas and opened presents on Christmas Eve! They probably didn’t even get home until 2:00 AM or so, and were no doubt full of “spiked” eggnog and other sundry alcoholic liquids! After the apparent refusal to go downstairs, which I just never understood, never mind that they had maybe 1 hour’s sleep on top of a hangover! I’d go down stairs and sit in the yellow wing-backed chair (my favorite chair), and cry and say, “Please, let me open just one present”! Eventually, when it was still dark (the prime time!), they would eventually amble downstairs about 5 minutes behind Tim and Sue. My mother would then react to my carrying on for the previous hour or so and sarcastically say, “Merrrry Christmassss, merrrry Christmas”!! Hey, I was just spreading my special brand of “Christmas Cheer” around! Alas… the trails and tribulations of a misunderstood childhood!