Page 4 2023 Home For The Holidays Lincoln Daily News November 23, 2022 Happy Holidays! What a wonderful pairing of words. It makes us smile to think of the holiday season that is now officially in full swing. There will be days of baking Christmas cookies, planning holiday get togethers, shopping, lots of shopping, gift wrapping, again a lot of that too. These are the things that lead us to that ultimate Christmas morning when the kids come running into the family room, putting on the brakes before crashing head on into the Christmas tree. They drop to their knees and start tearing open gift wrapping, paper and bows flying in every direction as they reveal the treasures that are hidden beneath those pretty foil bows. They toss aside the new underwear and socks, groan at the crazy Christmas sweater that was a gift from grandma, and dive for the Red Rider BB gun that grandpa insisted they were too old to live without even one more day. The dolls, the play tea sets, the games, the videos and electronics, their treasures, all laying before them. And as they try to divide their time between each of the wonderful gifts, they hear those dreaded words from you, “It’s time to get ready to go to grandma’s house, and don’t forget to wear that precious new sweater grandma gave you!” And then you gasp, when did you turn into your mother? You remember all too well the words she would say and that feeling of disappointment and dread that came immediately after. Happy Holidays! “But why? Why do we have to go to grandmas?” “You know you want to! You get to see all your cousins! You can play with them and have fun, and you know grandma has been baking your favorite cookies all week long!” “But we don’t want to see the cousins. We don’t like cousin Snort (the name your kids gave little Tommy because he is constantly needing to blow his nose). We don’t want to wear that sweater! Come on mom, don’t make us do that!” Yep, you’ve turned into your mother, and for just a moment you weaken. But then you think about your mom and what it means to her. You think about that warm feeling you’ll find when you get there. The savory smells of turkey and ham in the oven, the buttery aroma of home-made bread, delicately blending with the sweet smell of pecan and pumpkin pies. You think about the feeling of unity, the family that you haven’t seen for quite some time, the photos that will be taken, the memories that will be made, and you’re right back to repeating your order to the children. “Now go get ready, I promise you’ll have a good time, and YES, you have to wear that sweater!” So why did you do that? How did you get to this point? You did it because in your mind you’re looking twenty years down the road, and you’re seeing yourself as the grandma and your children as the parents. You will want them to come home for the holidays, just as you today are going home for the holidays. It’s called tradition. And you don’t want to lose that because it is what ties you to your loved ones, and indeed what gives the holiday season its deeper, more poignant meaning. How did we get here? Continued --
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