Anticipation vs. Revelation
Today marked the first sunrise post the events of Christmas Day. My day started off much like they have been for quite a number of those mornings ever since that Christmas Eve thirteen years ago when my daughter’s Christmas wish came true and she got a puppy. The dog and I might both be a little older and slower now but most mornings begin with me taking him for a walk.
The hour is usually on the early side before our small corner of the world emerges from the previous night’s slumber so it’s typically fairly quiet; however, I do tend to notice a little more activity and noise beyond just the rooster crowing on the days that are typically considered working days as opposed to weekends. Some days though I really understand what Simon and Garfunkel meant by The Sound of Silence. It was especially quiet this morning in part I am sure due to the fact that yesterday was Christmas Day. I did hear the rooster crow but there was no traffic at all stirring on the road adjacent to the neighborhood and I didn’t see much evidence of activity beyond a car someone had started so it could warm-up on this cold morning. There were still quite a number of houses illuminated by the Christmas lights and decorations that had been in use for several weeks now but today drives those sets into feeling empty to me since the Christmas holiday is now over.
The blank space under the tree and the empty stockings on the mantle all start out that same way at the beginning of the season when the decorations are first being put out on display. They look the same way now as then but in this version of being empty, I know it is different because of the events of yesterday. After the storage of gifts in those spaces consumes the initial emptiness over the days after being brought out for the first time (and eventually building up to some maximum), returning back to this empty state post opening those gifts changes the way that same blank space and empty stockings are thought of post Christmas Day for me. I know that the same emptiness I now see will not be filled this time.
That same lens also impacts the way I view those outside lights and decorations once the events of opening presents have finished. As soon as the lights are initially put up, they likewise mark the anticipation of the Christmas holiday building with each passing day but the post revelation achieved from the actual Christmas Day gift giving shifts that perception into now viewing those lights and decorations as no longer necessary and needing to be taken down. Their purpose has been served much like the empty spaces now found on the inside.
The anticipation versus revelation feelings around Christmas are rather strong and leave you in a much different place. So much build up and suspense on the front end before having the unknown completely revealed and eliminated with the events of a single morning. We’ve counted day by day with an advent inspired calendar consuming things such as cheese and candy each day since the first day of the month all the way up to the 24th adding to the buildup each day and then it stops suddenly until next year. I also think the theoretically limitless possibilities that lie in the wrapped gifts add to the excitement that disappears completely once that last present is opened. It’s a strong and magical feeling that now will subside until the next holiday season cranks up in about 11 months.
I’ve reflected fondly on each one of these Christmases I’ve had the opportunity to experience (and can remember) and plan on doing so every year that I add another one to the memory books. Some of those memories recall special gifts I received as a child like the one Christmas I got my Dallas Cowboys uniform or the one with the ten speed bike. I also vividly remember staring out the living room window watching the snow accumulate quiet substantially while waiting for my father to return from navigating the slick road conditions in order to pickup my grandmother so she could be present for those Christmas morning festivities. There also was the teenage Christmas Eve night I spent lamenting instead of sleeping since I felt that I didn’t communicate stronger my desire for a stereo system that year only to find one as a gift the following morning after all. There were the first ones as a parent where I got to experience the joy from the other side of seeing a child receive something that they had been hoping to receive including the one where the dog I walked this morning was that gift. The children are older now but there still is anticipation and joy in just having them with me to exchange gifts. One of these days I could even be the grandparent on the other side of some memory like the one I still carry with me to this day. Here’s to all that anticipation of those future Christmas seasons and to the accompanying revelations that will turn them into fond memories.
