'Christmas is an evolving festival: the ground rules are constant but the interpretation is personal.' Photo: by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
It might be a bluer Christmas than usual, but Elaine Bright still has a holiday cheer
‘Christmas time is coming, the geese are getting fat – and they are not alone.’
Christmas time is coming, the geese are getting fat – and they are not alone. I am finding even my ‘work from home’ casuals are snug. I can’t put a penny in the old man’s hat since I haven’t seen the Euston Road for six months. A summer ago, I did give a young man on the street a sandwich and a bottle of water. He was young, same age as my youngest son. I wasn’t sure what he liked, so I picked a sandwich at random. He chased me up the road shouting ‘Will this kill me?’. Turns out he was allergic to onions!
If I didn’t have a penny, a half penny would do, but to whom? The musicians on the tube range from playing ABBA on a squeeze box at ninety miles an hour, to a violinist playing the theme from The Godfather – the whole train fell silent to that one. I once fell into a conversation with a user of various substances. He invited me to dance along to ABBA. I declined so he danced solo with lovely abandon. He advised me to tip the ABBA contribution as the guy with the amazing violin was crap. I love London.
If I haven’t got a halfpenny then god bless me. A small line but so kind. And it is not lost on me and mine as we have had times when we struggled to find a halfpenny. I know that others will struggle this Christmas, too. But I have to admit I love Christmas – the lead up, the day, the total madness of it all. I am an unashamed Christmas fan. I have hosted Christmas since my early years when my family looked aghast at what they were expected to eat. I feel the same every year. The cast has changed but we create the same pantomime, the feeling when all the guests arrive and we close the door, and know that for one day we can just be family together. We laugh, play games, drink too much, sober up, eat all day, cry for those who were at the table, but who left, leaving a gap of love and humour. A table, at first sight weighed down with food, but actually weighed down with affection and love.
Christmas is an evolving festival: the ground rules are constant but the interpretation is personal. I now wonder how my Christmas will be this year. Most of this year’s cast is ‘resting’ and the remaining performers will have to play several parts. The spirit of those missing will be felt with the happiness the day brings. The hardest will be remembering those who are now part of Christmas past. These memories are most easily shared with those whose support is silent but strong. A raised glass to absent friends.
I know the local school will be happy I’m not part of their Christmas plans though. The candle-lit supper was a highlight of the year until I helped out. I put my paper napkin on a tea light, the table cloth caught fire and while trying to extinguish it I was laughing so hard that an enthusiastic lady started to deliver first aid for asthma!
The circle of life can seem a cliché, but now I have new tiny people in my life I get it, I understand how it all works. Life really is a wonderful thing.
A virus is a moment, family is forever.
Elaine is the finance officer for the Friend and for Friends World Committee for Consultation.
