NEW YORK—The way we live a calendar year as a country in the United States has a rhythm that culminates in the over-anticipated holiday season. It starts with Halloween, and ends—mercifully—with the New Year.
Yes, mercifully.
Despite our broad scope of observances, everyone with even a marginal sense of what’s happening around them knows when “the holiday season is upon us.” It hovers, prepares to come in for a landing, and then descends.
I love the cheer and festivities as much as the next person—but every year about this time, I hear myself say, “Wow, I can’t wait until January 2.”
Last year’s holiday season I experienced an alternate universe while living in Jerusalem, Israel, with my husband. We were in a part of town that is almost completely Jewish, so there was no Christmas hoopla of any kind, save for whatever effort I made.
Surprisingly, I found the distance from the holidays, along with all the holiday expectations, to be a massive relief. At the same time, the experience was a massive reminder about what matters.
I thought about how to make the holidays beautiful for my husband and insisted he take time off from work to spend with the family. I did what I could to create magical moments for our young son. I even made a popcorn garland with a needle and thread, which I haven’t done for at least 20 years. When we did go gift shopping at the mall, it was on Dec. 24, it lasted for one hour, and we spent under $50.
Everything we did during those two months as the year drew to a close emphasized meaningful memories and taking stock of what matters.
Thinking of Others
I was reminded of my holiday season interlude when I got an email earlier this week from Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm’s office. The email accused the city’s Build it Back disaster recovery program of failing the borough’s residents.
Grimm said that so far only 4,000, of the 12,000 high-priority Build it Back applicants, have been helped. Among the other 8,000 people, he said there are some who still can’t go home for the holidays.
Grimm staged a press event with three of these families whom he said are at “their wits’ end” over Build it Back. Thursday will mark their second consecutive Thanksgiving without a permanent home.
It’s one thing not to be in your home country on Thanksgiving, but imagine not being in your own home. The people whom Grimm brought into the limelight were displaced by a natural disaster. They have remained displaced by the red tape of post-disaster New York.
Although I didn’t meet Grimm’s families, I’ve made a little deal with myself about holiday season complaints: I will stop mid-whine and consider the current fate of fellow New Yorkers on Staten Island. Then, I will remember that when all is said and done, I have everything to be grateful and thankful for.
