Holiday Memories by Dr. Juan Harrison
Driving around my neighborhood at night I see a renewed enthusiasm for Christmas. Things got tamped down during the height of the virus. Now the streets are full and the stores are overflowing. They tell us we’re suffering from rising costs and higher inflation, but it’s hard to tell it from the cha-ching of the cash registers and the onslaught of the online transactions. My wife and her best friend have been going over to the Metroplex for thirty years after Thanksgiving to spend the night and shop till they drop. In recent years she’s just about ordered everything before then. It’s become mostly a couple of days socializing in every store around Rockwall and Frisco. All I can say is that she and I have different ideas of fun.
She buys; I wrap. Not sure how that came to be. Anyone married for any length of time knows the system. Once a man shows a woman he can do something, he’s stuck. I know there’s a ton of guys out there pretending they can’t do so and so. Some have even been known to intentionally sabotage some duty the wife would like him to assume responsibility for. Why didn’t I think of that!
Actually I don’t mind wrapping presents. One look into our bedroom to see the presents for all the kids and grands stacked head high almost around the room tells me I’ve been a busy boy. I set up my operation on the student table in my wife’s school, flip on the TV, and I’m set. I grab my sack with all the tape, scissors, name tags, and boxes and a roll or two of paper and I’m good. There’s something rewarding about taking a roll of paper and making it conform into this neat covering to help give a little joy or surprise to someone.
I’m still recovering from Thanksgiving. We always have a house full of hungry people, so my job is to peel potatoes and chop the vegetables. It’s a simple act, no thinking required, and you end up with a finished product ready to be used; not to mention, I made a few brownie points with the wife.
I’m reminded again the value of sharing life with others. God said man was not meant to be alone. Unfortunately, some of us are going likely to end up outliving our partner. Hopefully, we acquired a few more family members along the way to also share the holidays with and reflect back on those great memories of sharing duties with a special love.
By Dr. Juan Harrison