How Will You Celebrate the Holidays?

A Saturday prompt

I’ve wondered whether it’s too soon to begin thinking about the holidays. My wife tells me that I always become awfully busy just as taking a break gets closer. She’s surely right: My desire to do work I think can’t wait conflicts with my desire to shift gears, slow down, be with my family, enjoy silly Christmas movies, eat holiday treats, buy presents—and reflect on the year that happened and the year that’s to come.

All that’s gotten more complicated, of course, by the layers of uncertainty and danger triggered by the election and the return of the convicted felon and his family to the White House. Nothing signals holiday fun like memories of Melania Trump’s blood-red Christmas trees or yesterday’s news that the lawyer of Trump nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is trying to get the F.D.A. to revoke the polio vaccine.

But the 74-foot, 11-ton Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was already lit 10 days ago, everywhere I drive I see homes brightened with Christmas decorations, and my wife and younger daughter made their annual pursuit for the perfect tree right after Thanksgiving. It’s now decorated and standing beside a Hanukkah menorah, sitting on a window ledge. This year Christmas and the Jewish holiday both arrive on December 25.

While my Chicago-born mother always longed to get away from the cold and dark in wintry December—eventually moving to California—my Finland-born wife can’t get enough of the cold and candle-lit nights. I learned in my four years living in Helsinki that a plethora of burning candles, well-insulated homes and moon-lit snow go a long way to brightening what can be the darkest days.

I remember in the midst of the COVID pandemic that people seemed to be in a hurry to turn to the holidays in early December and to extend them by holding onto decorations longer into January. The desire for cheer was especially strong. That same impulse could be a useful antidote to our anxiety over the dark days to come.

The golden-toned Bing Crosby released the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in 1943. A year earlier he released “White Christmas,” which is the best-selling single of all-time. That’s quite a one-two combination—and not just because both songs continue to be perennial favorites that capture the holiday spirit.

Both songs can be linked to the mood of the country as the Second World War raged and families were separated from their loved ones. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in particular created a hopeful picture for homesick soldiers, even if its closing line about coming home is poignantly “only in my dreams.” It’s no wonder that the song was the most-requested song at U.S.O. shows in Europe and the Pacific. Yank, a magazine for soldiers, said that no one did more to boost morale than Bing Crosby.

There’s something to learn from that turbulent time when America and the world faced the threat of fascism. Millions of our fellow Americans fought to save democracy while also yearning to be home with their families. If you’re lucky enough, there’s nothing that can replace the loving embrace of your family and friends. As fraught as the holidays can be, they are an opportunity to put aside worldly troubles that pull us apart, if only for a short time, if only in our dreams.

So what about you? How will you celebrate the holidays? What does this time of year mean to you? Does this year feel different? Is there a holiday memory that you’d like to share?

As always, I look forward to reading your responses and for this community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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*Photo of reindeers by Coneyl Jay via Getty Images.