I was raised in a cult. OK-I'll be honest it wasn't exactly a Kool-Aid with Jim sort-of cult, but it has had a dramatic impact on my adult life. As a child our "cult" didn't allow the celebration of religious or secular holidays containing any pagan component-so, no Halloween, no Easter, and most traumatic of all, no Christmas.
As a child I sorely longed to “have” Christmas. I loved everything about it, well I loved it from afar, since we weren't allowed to so much as accept a Christmas present or even respond to a well wished "Merry Christmas" uttered from a passerby.
My most magical memories of Christmas came from visiting my cousin’s house. Her dark wood paneled 70's era basement was filled with trees, garland, mistletoe, wreaths, lights, and presents, (not to mention home-made wine, a disco ball, and squirrel taxidermy-but these were easily overlooked on Christmas). I dreamed that one day I might get to decorate a tree and open a gift on Christmas morning. I had to wait 18 years for that dream to come true.
I celebrated my first Christmas while dating my (now)-husband. That was 10 years ago. The previous 27 year Christmas void has manifested itself in my adult life as Katherine- Christmas fanatic.
I finally get to do it all, the lights, the trees, and the presents-sheer joy. Of course along the way I have had to learn to celebrate a holiday which holds no religious significance to me what-so-ever. But it also gives me the freedom to pick and choose how I want to celebrate with my family. It also allows me to create lasting family traditions-no matter how bizarre or inappropriate.
Even though I officially began to celebrate the Season prior to Thanksgiving I am sad to see it coming to an end. Happily I can say that this year I have baked numerous treats, attended a cookie exchange, read a Christmas novel, decorated every room of my house including putting up 7 trees, I have made Christmas crafts, introduced a shelf elf, bought heirloom ornaments, made a gingerbread village, watched every imaginable Christmas movie and come one step closer to fulfilling the dreams of a little girl without Christmas.
Oh Oh Oh Merry Christmas
1 comment:
Funny. I was raised in a cult too. And I think technically what we (spilled the beans) called church is actually a cult as defined by other non-cult religions (which, is that even possible, a non-cult religion?).
Post a Comment