the holiday season
From the Associate Publisher/Editor / Laura Tate
It’s five days before Christmas and I haven’t done a lick of shopping for gifts, nor has a tree been bought, or the lights hung. It’s peculiar; as the years go by, and my children get older, the enthusiasm I used to put into the holiday season wanes. This short-changes my youngest child, who is eight years old. But he doesn’t seem to mind. I do, though. I feel guilty, like how the parent of a third or fourth child would, not taking a million photos and videos like one does for the first child (or not rinsing the pacifier that fell to the ground before popping it back into the mouth of baby-for the first child, nothing short of sterilization by boiling or going out and buying a brand new one would suffice).
It gets tiring though, the holiday season. If only one could wave a wand and the fireplace be lit, the Christmas tree twinkle and the smell of hot apple cider be wafting through the air when I get home.
I’ve suggested to my older children that instead of buying gifts this year, we spend the holiday weekend together somewhere, such as in the mountains. They roll their eyes and say, “mom!”-as if it were the craziest or dumbest idea in the world.
It’s also kind of difficult, the idea of going out and spending a great deal of money on things that are really not necessary, while so much strife is going on throughout the world-the war, the devastation from the tsunami, the hurricanes, and other man-made and natural disasters. Heaven knows, a disaster doesn’t need to take place for misery to be alive and well-there’s the homeless, the needy children, the poor … And yet, we go on, I think, because we need to have something bright, happy and hopeful to look forward to. The holidays bring families together. It’s the only time of the year, practically, that I see some of my family and longtime friends.
And then there are those who, in addition to having that special time with their own families, go out and try to help those who are in need. There are the local churches like Malibu United Methodist and organizations such as the Malibu Rotary Club, the Labor Exchange and private citizens who organize and serve holiday dinners, or bring underprivileged children to Malibu for Christmas parties and gifts, like the Lions Club did last week for children from an inner city school. The Rotary Club and Pepperdine Rotaract Club wrapped gifts for children at the Dorcas House Orphanage in Tijuana this past weekend; Prudential Malibu Realty has been sponsoring a drive to collect shoes and clothing for children at the El Faro Orphanage in Tijuana as well. Malibu residents Lea and Leon Johnson have spearheaded this drive for years. And each year, the Malibu Ballet Society visits the Shriners Hospital to perform for its young patients, as well as bus in children from outlying schools for a free performance at Pepperdine University.
There are more people, organizations and groups who help that I have not listed, but we regularly publish stories, or run news briefs or People items about them.
This is the bright side, indeed, of people during the holidays, not the lights, the trees, the gifts … but the giving.
Happy Holidays.