21 December 2008 - Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Christmas - Past, Present, and Future
Sunday 21 December 2008

Christmas will arrive here in Thailand in 4 days. Since Thailand is predominately Buddhist, there is not much of the excitement and expectations leading up to the day that people experience in America, Canada, South America, and Europe.

The stores are even less decorated here than they were in Vietnam last year. I was surprised at the amount of decorations and holiday events in Vietnam - what used to be North Vietnam to be exact. I suspect that the Christmas preparations were more commercial in nature than religious or tradition.

Thailand actually has a duty on importing Christmas decorations so they are not readily available. I have not seen a pine, fir, or anything resembling an evergreen tree so there will be no Christmas tree in the house this year. I could decorate a coconut or banana tree but it just doesn't seem appropriate. It definitely does not maintain or even come close to respecting family tradition.

Even when I was in Algeria I had a Christmas tree or rather Christmas branch in my trailer. Prior to leaving Algeria, my wife at the time on one of her walks around the perimeter of the compound where we lived had ripped a branch off of an evergreen tree and put it in a vase inside our trialer for my Christmas. The 12 inch tall branch with the one homemade ornament that my sister sent maintained a holiday tradition.

I have spent Christmas in many places around the world. No matter where I lived; be it in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, Louisiana, California, Brasil, Malaysia, Canada, Algeria, Vietnam each Christmas has been special.

I expect that this one in Thailand will be special too.

One of the benefits of being away from the emotional drama and excessive expectations of the Christmas holiday in the USA, is that I can be more focused on the true significance and meaning of the day.

A recurring underlying theme of this blog is "optimism". Christmas in the Christian sense and true meaning of the day is a celebration of optimism. Through the birth of Jesus, Christians believe that they had received the gift of the promise of eternal salvation.

Here in Thailand, my focus will be on reflecting upon the true meaning of the day and remembering some of the previous Christmases. I will make a special meal of "kao falang" (foreigner food), call family to wish them well, and use the opportunity to explain a little about Christianity to Duang.

As a child, my Christmases were always a time of joy. My sister and I started to get serious about Christmas starting with Thanksgiving. The next big milestone on what seemed to be an endless wait to the big day was our special trip to Montgomery Ward store in New London. Each holiday season, Montgomery Ward would set up a separate store in downtown New London dedicated to Christmas toys. Dad and Mom would take us over to the store one evening to see the decorations and toys - a wondrous night for us.

We always had a nice Christmas tree decorated with old ornaments from Germany and the USA. At that time, China was starving and had no export industry. Japan was starting to export things but the quality was poor and the war had been over for less than 12 years. My favorite ornaments were tubes of liquid that when they were plugged in bubbled. Fire hazards no doubt but beautiful no less. My favorite task in family effort in decorating the tree was to place the "icicles" on the branches. We were advanced for the time - each year we recycled the icicles from previous holidays. Frugal? - Definitely. Environmentally conscious? - No, not yet - they were made out of lead. Yep - lead icicles to decorate the Christmas trees. To this day I miss the feel of those icicles - heavy and crinkled - substantial unlike the wispy emaciated strips of Mylar that is used today.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Swedish Smorgasbord. My favorite food was the Swedish bread - to this day I love the taste and smell of cardamon. The party was held at an old aunt of my Dad's in an old sea captain's house in a old whaling village - a perfect setting for what was usually a white Christmas. There were many relatives and family friends were there. My sister and I were busy with our numerous cousins for the entire evening. I had a favorite man, a cousin to my Dad that I enjoyed talking to each year. Many years later I learned why Mom and Dad always made sure that our conversations were always in public and why he had never married. These were things that were not openly discussed in the 1950's just as was his hospitalization. The interesting people at the gatherings included my second or perhaps third cousin. I considered her to be weird and suspected her to be an albino or what my eight year old mind imagined what an albino would look like. She was not weird because of her looks but to me was her interest in art. ART! That was weird - to me.

Forty years later, at another family get together upon my return from Algeria, unconsciously and unintentionally I extracted from an aunt another reason why she may have been wird - her Mom and Dad were first cousins. I thought that things like that happened only in the South, places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Mississippi - not in the heart of Yankee Land - CONNECTICUT! As embarrassing as it was for my aunt to divulge the family secret, it was amusing as how the secret was finally revealed to the next generation.

After Christmas Mass, we would have Christmas celebration with the French Canadian (Quebecois) side of the family. This was always a great time. I was always embarassed when after several drinks my Grandfather, my Dad, and my Uncle would sit on the sofa and harmonize. Only Dad remains. How great it would be to be so embarrassed again.

Those were the Christmases of my past youth - wonderful memories.

My first wedding was on Christmas Eve. For fifteen years Christmas was especially memorable with the additional celebration of an anniversary. During those years, a fond memory is that of my small sons waking up and running naked through the house to the Christmas tree with all the excitement, wonder, and optimism of small children on a Christmas morning before a pile of awaiting gifts. Now my oldest son has those moments to experience - his present Christmas.

As the year comes to a close, our present Christmas will become another Christmas past. Christmas future awaits us. Like the cycle of rice cultivation here in Isaan, the circle of life will continue.

Just as the first Christmas offered the gift of optimism to a needy and longing people, I hope that this Christmas provides everyone with hope for their future and comfort for the path that they have chosen.

Merry Christmas