Santa Got Lost in Texas

So it is either perfectly fitting or cruelly ironic that the only three Christmas songs that I seem to have put on my computer before leaving are “Feliz Navidad,” “Mamacita Donde Esta Santa Claus.” and (best of all) “Brown Christmas.” A brown Christmas is right. Everything is all dried up here; it hasn’t rained in months and things are so dusty that I often carry a handkerchief with me just to cover my mouth as I walk up and down the streets. Nevertheless, there is a certain buzz about Christmas here that makes it feel like it really is that time of year. Nice because I feel like my head is finally coming to grips that it is no longer July, but a little sad as I am realizing that I have never not been home for Christmas, and I will, for the first time in my adult life, be missing out on all of the usual family traditions that really make Christmas the holiday it is. As I can not claim to be much of a religious person, Christmas for me, has really at the heart of it, always been about being with family and celebrating the gift of family. As the line goes in my favorite Christmas movie (A Muppets Christmas Carol), “It’s true wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas.” And isn’t that the gift of family? Unconditional love. That’s why we have family, so you know that no matter what horrible hand you have been dealt in life, you can always fall back on this one group of people who has been there for you and will continue to be there for you. And thus, an ocean away from my family on this particular Christmas, it will be very interesting to see how my holiday is spent. I am sure that many of my thoughts will be preoccupied with the particular happenings of my own family traditions as the day passes by like seemingly most other days here. And so, with that said, I say to my family, “Somebody sing something!”