Last year sucked for everyone and everything. I know I’ve said that a lot over the past year, but it’s worth belaboring. The COVID-19 pandemic ruined a lot of things and it’s still doing so today. Even though we have vaccines and treatments, the disease is still raging, thanks largely to idiots who refuse to follow science.
However, I don’t want to bemoan that prolonged tragedy.
I want to be a bit more positive this time around. After all, the holidays are upon us. We should try to be more positive, if only to get into the spirit. We have even more incentive than usual. Unlike last year, we’re more able to travel and enjoy traditional holiday activities. If you were stuck at home last year for the holidays and had to change your traditions, that’s a big deal.
To that end, I’m happy to say that I’ve actually finalized some holiday travel plans this year. They’re actually a bit bolder than what I usually do for the holidays. For both Christmas and Thanksgiving, I usually visit family and we usually have a large family gathering to celebrate the season. We couldn’t do that last year and it was rough. The holidays just didn’t feel the same.
This year, however, we’re trying to make up for it. We’re planning a big Thanksgiving gathering that will bring together family we haven’t seen outside a computer screen in nearly three years. That gathering will require more travel than usual. For me, that involves getting on a plane for the first time since before the pandemic.
Now, I’m not usually a fan of flying. It’s not the flight itself that bothers me. It’s navigating the airport that I find so frustrating. However, after last year, I’ll gladly endure it to be part of this gathering.
I also encourage others to do the same. Even if you’re not a fan of air travel or long car rides, make the effort to get away for the holidays. Visit family and interact with them in ways you just can’t match through a computer screen. Get out there and make the most of the holidays.
It has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you the same. I take Christmas very seriously. I go out of my way to buy extra gifts and I often spend way more than I intend. However, I gladly pay that price because that’s how much I love the holidays.
Last year was a real challenge for obvious reasons. This year promises to be a bit more traditional and we should welcome that.
However, this year brings with it some new challenges, especially for those who just love waiting until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping. We all know people like that. You yourself might be like that. I understand that not everyone is inclined to be that proactive. There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think less of anyone who has a procrastination problem around the holidays.
That being said, you should make an exception this year. If ever there was a year in which you got your shopping done early, make it this one. The ongoing supply chain issues that we’ve all heard about will have an impact, regardless of whether you do your shopping online or go to a store.
This is not speculation.
This is a warning.
If you want to make sure you get all the gifts you hope to give, either for yourself or your loved ones, do your shopping now.
Don’t wait until Thanksgiving.
Don’t wait until the first week of December.
Do it now.
You family will thank you and your holiday experience will be less stressful overall.
We did it. We made it through 2020. A new year is now upon us.
Usually, New Year is just a formality. However, this time is different. I’ve already highlighted why. I don’t want to belabor it again. Most of us with news feeds already know why 2020 sucked so much.
Instead of harping on how rough the previous year was, I just want to look ahead to 2021. It’s definitely going to be a year of rebuilding. We have a long road ahead of us, but we definitely have the tools to make 2021 much better than 2020. The bar for improvement is very low, but let’s not settle for less.
Today, let’s all just take a step back, take a deep breath, and take some satisfaction in that we made it this far. Quite a few poor souls weren’t as lucky. Let’s acknowledge and honor those who didn’t make it by making 2021 the best year it can possibly be.
Again, the bar is very low. Let’s still put in the extra work. If every there was a year to overcompensate, it’s this one.
In any other year, we would use this as an opportunity to wish everyone a happy New Year and to share our New Years plans. This is not just any other year. This is 2020 and it has been historically hellish for reasons that would take too long to list. Now, it’s almost over.
We’ve made it this far. We’ve endured horrible story after horrible story. We navigated times in which time seemed to slow to a crawl. For some, it’s been a special kind of terrible. Let’s at least acknowledge that doctors and front line health care workers have had it the worst.
Now, I know the end of 2020 doesn’t mean an automatic end to everything that made it so awful. There’s still work to be done. We’re still a long way from anything resembling a better world.
If nothing else, 2020 has set the bar so laughably low for improvement that 2021 has no excuses for being at least slightly better. As jaded and broken as I’ve become over this past year, I’m choosing to be hopeful. I really want to believe that 2021 will be a better year. The effort to make it better starts tomorrow.
For now, let’s just get through this last day. We’ve almost made it, people! Just hang in there a little bit longer.
All the holiday planning and preparation is about to come together, as it does every year on one glorious day.
When the year began, we probably had a good idea of how Christmas was going to look this year. We probably had a general idea of how the year would look in general.
However, I don’t want to spend Christmas Eve lamenting on how bad this year has gone. I’ve already doneplenty of that. Instead, I want offer some insight and hope.
Yes, Christmas this year is bound to be different, but the spirit and sentiments of the season aren’t completely muted. Even a pandemic can’t stop that.
Like so many other things this year, we just have to adapt. That may mean less travel, less parties, and even less presents for those who are enduring serious economic hardship. It’s sad and disappointing, but that doesn’t have to ruin Christmas. It just means we’ll have to do things differently.
For me, personally, that involves relying heavily on video chatting and Zoom meetings to connect with family. We can’t have the usual extended get-togethers, which often start on Christmas Eve and go on days after Christmas. It also means a less elaborate Christmas dinner.
At the same time, I’m not letting it dampen my holiday spirit. I’ve already made the effort to share that spirit from afar. Last week, I took many of the presents I’d previously wrapped and mailed them out to various family members who couldn’t travel. I ended up having to send multiple large boxes, which held up a long line at the UPS store.
To those people, I apologize. I promise it was for a good cause.
I already confirmed that many of those packages arrived. I intend to be with them via Zoom as they’re opened. I also intend to do the same while I open their presents. Granted, it’s not the same as being there with them, but it’s better than nothing. We’ll still be together in the ways that matter.
It’ll still be difficult. I know some relatives would much rather get together, join the family, and share in each others’ company for the holidays. It’s just not possible this year. I keep encouraging them to make up for it next year. However, we have to get through this one first. We can make that process easier by simply making the most of what we have now.
I encourage everyone to keep that perspective in mind as they celebrate the holidays. The world will heal. This pandemic will end. Those are hopes for tomorrow.
Today, it’s Christmas Eve.
Let’s cherish what we still have before we move forward with what lies ahead.
As you get older, you come to treasure certain memories more than most. It’s a natural thing. If you’ve conducted yourself a certain way, it can be a beautiful thing. It’s not always a pleasant process, especially as you encounter major life challenges and inevitable hardships. That doesn’t make it any less meaningful.
The holidays are a time during which we form many such memories. I certainly have. Some of my most cherished memories occurred over the holidays. Some were on Christmas and some were on Thanksgiving. This year, with so many friends and family still isolated due to the pandemic, I find myself contemplating those memories more than usual.
I doubt I’m alone. There’s just no getting around it. For Thanksgiving, especially, we just can’t do things the way we normally do in 2020. That’s just the reality of a deadly pandemic. We can’t travel, get together, or casually share used forks. It’s sad and frustrating, but that’s just the way things have to be for this year.
For me and my family, that’s especially difficult. That’s because every year, my parents make it a point to make their house, the same one I grew up in, the epicenter of all things Thanksgiving. Every year, family from all over traveled to our part of the country to get together, have a giant meal, and just enjoy each other’s company.
These gatherings were often the biggest family gatherings of the year. It wasn’t unusual for there to be at least 20 people crammed into that house. It was big and rowdy, but we all loved it. I certainly did. We had so much fun, sharing in the joys of food, family, and football. I’m really going to miss that this year.
Rather than dwell on that, though, I’d like to share a quick personal story that I hope will get others through this pandemic-hit holiday. It just happens to be one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories of all time and one that perfectly defines what makes my family so awesome.
This particular memory unfolded when I was fairly young. I was still in elementary school at the time and much of my extended family wasn’t that much older. Once again, my parents made their house the central focus of Thanksgiving festivities and we attracted quite a crowd. I remember aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends joining in, some of which I hadn’t seen in years.
In addition to the usual gathering and feasting, the weather this year was just perfect. It was unusually warm for late November. A number of cousins and friends wore shorts and a T-shirt. It was just that nice out. As a result, we hung around outside a lot more than usual. It’s here where this Thanksgiving memory really takes hold.
Shortly after we ate, a bunch of cousins and extended family gathered in the backyard and started throwing around a football, as many are inclined to do on Thanksgiving. It started as a simple game of catch between a few cousins. It then evolved into a full-fledged game, complete with route running, elaborate plays, and touchdown dances.
We didn’t plan it.
We didn’t keep score.
We didn’t even set clear rules and time limits.
We all just came together as friends and family to play a football game in the backyard. It felt so natural and organic. It was a perfect manifestation of everything we loved about Thanksgiving get-togethers.
If that weren’t memorable enough, some clouds rolled in near sunset and it started raining suddenly. However, not one person in the backyard ran inside. If anything, it just made everyone more excited to play. The game kept going. We kept running around, tackling each other, and just had an all-around great time.
Being a kid with a belly full of Thanksgiving dinner, I honestly didn’t want it to end. I wanted to just hang out back there and play football until the sun went down. Even as some friends and family had to leave, we kept going for as long as we could. When it finally ended, I knew on some levels that this had been a special Thanksgiving.
Time has only proven that sentiment right. To date, it’s one of my most cherished Thanksgiving memories. I’ll likely cherish it even more as I endure a Thanksgiving without that big family gathering I’ve come to love and appreciate. I know many in my family feel the same way.
Thanksgiving this year may be disappointing in its scope, but I would encourage them and everyone who shares that feeling to think back to those memories. More importantly, use them as inspiration, as well as motivation, to make Thanksgiving in 2021 even more special.
I hope this little story has boosted your holiday spirits. I also hope everyone finds a way to enjoy Thanksgiving this year, however tempered it might be. The holidays are here. Let’s not allow a pandemic to dampen our spirits.
Let’s not lie to ourselves. Thanksgiving is going to be very different this year. Pretty much everything has had to be different this year, thanks to a once-in-a-century pandemic. There’s just no way around it. All we can do is adapt and endure.
For some, that means Thanksgiving is not going to be quite as festive. If you enjoy large family gatherings, hanging out near malls for Black Friday sales, or traveling extensively to meet up with relatives, then your Thanksgiving spirit is going to be tempered this year, by default. That’s just the way it is in 2020.
I’m already bracing myself. I’m still getting together with family, but it’s going to be on a much smaller scale than usual. Given how big my family is and how much they love get-togethers, that’s going to make it rough. We’re still going to try and make it work. Thankfully, most of us have already learned to have large gatherings through Zoom and FaceTime.
However, I’d rather not dwell on what this Thanksgiving will lack. In the interest of keeping things balanced, I’d like to do my part to help us endure these pandemic-hampered holidays.
To that end, I’d like to share a video from the channel, Best Posts & Comments. It’s a simple complication of Reddit posts that recounted infamous incidents that occurred on Thanksgiving.
I must offer a clear warning, though. Some of these incidents are quite cringy. Trust me. You’ll know it when you hear it. Cringe or not, I hope it helps you feel a bit better about Thanksgiving this year. Enjoy!
That’s probably something you’ve heard more than once in the past few weeks. Chances are, you started hearing it the day after Halloween. If you’ve been to a mall or a major box store recently, you’ve probably seen Christmas decoration and displays popping up. A few even went up alongside displays for Halloween candy.
This raises a question that always seems to come up around this time of year, usually in the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
How early is too early for Christmas decoration?
Sometimes, it’s asked cynically. Other times, it asked with the same whiny undertone as a kid who complains that he can’t have ice cream for every meal. It still gets asked every year, it seems. Even a global pandemic hasn’t stopped seasonal displays and holiday themed commercials from popping up.
Before I even try to answer this, I need to make one important disclaimer. It’ll likely undermine my credibility in addressing this question, but I don’t care. I’m putting it out there.
I already have my Christmas decorations up.
I actually put them up the day before Halloween.
Yes, I understand that’s much earlier than most.
No, I don’t care if you think that’s too early.
I love Christmas and I love holiday decorations. I make no apologies for that. Talk to anyone in my family. They’ll tell you the same thing. I take Christmas seriously. I’m the guy who has his decorations up before everyone else. I’m also the guy who keeps them up longer than everyone else. I also usually start my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving.
I say all this to make abundantly clear that I am hopelessly bias when it comes to this question. In my defense, I live alone and I own my own place. Legally speaking, I can put up Christmas decorations whenever I want and keep them up for as long as I want. I have the HOA documents to prove it.
I still realize that I’m an anomaly with respect to Christmas decorations. What counts as too early for me is going to be different from most other people, even if they love Christmas as much as I do. It’s still a question worth taking seriously, if only to maintain some consistency in our holiday traditions.
Growing up, we had a simple rule in my family. The earliest we can put up decorations is the week after Thanksgiving. Sometimes, we did it earlier, but only because we had other things going on and had to get it out of the way. I think that’s a fair rule.
I have friends and family members who say any day after Thanksgiving is no longer considered “too early.” The way they see it, Thanksgiving is the last holiday before Christmas. Once it passes, it’s perfectly acceptable to start looking forward to and planning for Christmas. I can’t disagree with that.
A select few take it a step further. They say that, if stores and malls are going to have Christmas displays, then it’s perfectly acceptable for everyone else to do the same. Why should these businesses play by different rules? They are, after all, responding to market forces. We, the consumers, are part of the market. They’re not setting the tone. We are because we respond to it.
That’s an interesting sentiment, albeit one I’m not sure I buy into. I’ve seen some stores put up holiday displays on the first day of October. Even for me, that’s a little too early, if only because the weather is still warm and Christmas is a winter-themed holiday. Putting it up while the weather is still warm is like getting ready for bed at noon.
I’ve never had a particular date or signal that I follow when I put my decorations up. One key indicator that often prompts me is the arrival of a few cold days. That triggers in me an inclination to start thinking about the holidays because they always seem to arrive faster than we expect. I just like to be proactive.
That was the case this year. A few days before Halloween, it got very cold. It didn’t stay cold, but that was enough of a sign for me to dust off my storage bins and break out the decorations. For me, that’s the point when it no longer became “too early” for Christmas decorations.
You may or may not agree with that point, but that was part of my decision-making process with respect to putting up my decorations. I won’t say it was the biggest part. I just love the holidays that much. I’ll look for any excuse to put my decorations up. I may do it even earlier next year, but I still understand that makes me an anomaly.
If you decide through a different process, I respect that. I even offer you to share it in the comments. I gave my justification for putting my decorations up. At this point, it’s no longer “too early” by my standards to put up your decorations. What does your standard say and how do you determine it?
Please let me know. We’re going to be hearing this question a lot between now and Thanksgiving. Let’s not avoid it or the implications.
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