“I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value.” - Charles Dickens
There are many facets of life which never seem to change. They are the constant continuum in this ever mercurial life. Such constancies are invaluable. Especially to those of us who have difficulty coping with change.
I remember with self pity the first Christmas where the butterflies in my stomach weren’t quite as active as they had been on past Christmas Eves. The year where I sobbed with disappointment that the long-awaited “adult table” was not fulfilling the expectations which I had built. The morning where I was tempted to sleep in rather than rushing to open gifts, and I could not quite figure out why.
Perhaps this was my moment when I, just as Wendy Darling once did, realized I was growing up.
Christmas changes a bit when you grow up. We have to work a bit harder to feel that glittering sense of anticipation. But, we appreciate it all the more when it comes.
We cannot escape the broken down cars or aching hearts that life deals to us. But we can learn to put them aside, on a theoretical shelf of sorrows. And, if just for a moment, forget what pains us and give thanks for all which we have been given.
Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one!
(Okay, no more Dickens, I promise.)
Sincerely,
Pedantic Foodie