%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 20 0 R 22 0 R ] /Count 3 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 17 0 R /GS4 18 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250909144048+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250909144048+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1681 >> stream xWM6WLo-v.4EDK%%u]t}Ca"diᛙ7o8^^MxreŊ65Sb~\+NAo~Ofǂ(,No$ R?Vm8*q*`N)v4FᵕS=.wMrvI(T-N{'z j,&2@iBAr0$>~F ԟ?څ "Yʣn[+FںȈ6Ȇe(LV =6N7lIyF%f eW=~ Q#oArc~K~10[AP*{8NlȎ3rXl yEe-P"/tBXP9f4Gԃ҈qg}Ͻm#d=h|%z-٩A!5+¤"%/|' 0D@NV,>-S<0D]g@Ѵ2RlX+;J 3d Ѱ]h j'T2Ľ µWdj*ɈL2бT=RaIA<CtflnP pPLxoOIuFK?2?߷bLBʸv `[eAd$RwZa섧"TlC(CE'~!eÍ4tWOĊǀg̪ẘW^vԠpS8WLE*n7D%}zy`! p.^D܁nV\c/dWY7NH3Aau)Yԛ]y+َa CPea7h{i>6 ETdA]L`{dt9ŔBy3W{<‡aB鿕:)h -+cy'vyau< &~Σ *r/n=~d%&Vur]1&=X^S?xHrwI:'d|˜CH'8l c/ 2~4EAy*J Q/#/wCHH\b y@N&O׮Idf=VɮcOBiDrgi& RgO L1-ԟK8!V4#z4:4 /2[X_'VmHi7TZҫ5U,4[VZ6rG`ŹzOn ŻTK endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 21 0 R >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1886 >> stream xmXێ}.Ub/&Wi`d@KE"j=TrwobٲE:TRsxky.޿ç'Qa[Y݉V<E$Ŀ~x8S +6Fh+ OZZ%sՊBFD[\;կW-~+NtSbgw6:۔"4nQXڰ, @dUL:v" ~0*v'7gMM׫]Az5%(ah"nkZ^gUY&9%KD`Ǧ{4Ggl:5* }F+gEǐQ6O襕g+$ȦC i4sWto6z)VLգU(AҎ_37S8J\Bscu d'[a]DQI#[rVixkg" Mt) @I1ql8o瞕Ѷ߾SgAtn vciX!ͺ)֝F/'yIezftw1)J ۟ŷQ\Pa=IF9.Dw㹃Z1[QĂa]H 2į?IԐ١u"h8;9D+N6)8`Ǜ}iOˀlҝ yOzf"Τ;ʊ<űy]U Ҷvy{; g]gEbӲ+Ѣ@wxAIHF_CYAqN&%+AKTd@U)Rݒwr'ha=sn0V{LH> endobj 23 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 651 >> stream xmn0EYCaIvvMt@E9KKRQ} P]F4{G̾cįm Ɨ"XR,`#`98alvպL ``Тro_sA\YiFip% Z!HEi >?IJJm{6is/R'ycM(;ǎX.-W|Bt7;]N_j ~\!APG=W ](_e1v1mFZr^B K$PM+f5k?@˦RU;Z:ֳZj{PR@-`'C+([%ŘIriOh ]U;:44EӠBqʢ84{^.?Gߒz4 OeCzmͥ@5-ixχU"gi)xO484\H'5iTe_"ƑG>xTDHn7M;Z7j*bVġ h2$I(Jdr%]vsq\ڟv6ێuSFpsBW͒%[9~%H`*=]YsNB:gfr&9ˣKK,LYy endstream endobj xref 0 24 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000408 00000 n 0000000437 00000 n 0000000586 00000 n 0000000689 00000 n 0000002443 00000 n 0000002550 00000 n 0000002658 00000 n 0000002768 00000 n 0000002881 00000 n 0000002997 00000 n 0000003026 00000 n 0000003136 00000 n 0000003193 00000 n 0000003250 00000 n 0000003309 00000 n 0000003368 00000 n 0000003397 00000 n 0000003502 00000 n 0000005462 00000 n 0000005567 00000 n trailer << /Size 24 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<19c248e447b20f55dbee396694ec1fb1><19c248e447b20f55dbee396694ec1fb1>] >> startxref 6291 %%EOF On the Corner | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

On the Corner

November 30, 2006
4 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

Changing Christmas Traditions

by Robert Docter, Editor-In-Chief – 

I had this dream the other morning—just before I awakened to a brisk California morning—only 65 degrees outside at 7:00 a.m. I dreamed I had been discussing Christmas with Diane—about how much I loved the relaxed, unhurried sentiment of the holidays—celebrating with family and friends.

She looked a little frazzled in my dream—not altogether happy with my prone posture. Then she spoke. I heard it clearly through the fog of sleep.

“You know Bob—women have a lot more to do than most men when it comes to getting ready for Christmas.”
In my dream it was several days before Thanksgiving and “my” Diane had just finished bringing a large collection of boxes and bags into the house. In my usual somewhat clumsy manner I had rather forcefully inquired where she had been and what all those bags contained.

I suppose her “look”—kind of a stern glare said more than any words about my implied criticism.
I then struggled to make out the date on my watch and asked: “Isn’t it kind of early?”

Shaking her head, she blamed my comments on the fifty percent of the population that claim to be males with a one word salvo: “Men!” She kept on working, sighed with a somewhat disgusted, tired look on her face and said: “It takes a lot of planning and time and effort to get ready for Christmas. This year I’m starting early.”

I said: “Oh!”—being smart enough, even in my dream, to know when enough was enough.

It didn’t stop me from wondering, however, about the entire meaning of “getting ready for Christmas.” My first thoughts concerned the social tradition of gift giving: and how it had become more of a children’s day with adults being responsible for the oohs and ahhs relative to all the decorations in the room and the array of perfectly wrapped packages precisely placed under the tree in a manner designed to suggest they had been left hurriedly by some fellow with a long beard dressed in a red suit.

The gifts, still in bags as Diane looked for a place to hide them, reminded me of the budget and bank account needs of the season for a family with six couples and fourteen grandchildren. Some preparation needed to be done about money.

Because I don’t seem to care much about money and have delegated all responsibility for its management to my wonderful Diane, my principal concern was the debt picture in January. Her childhood Christmases had not been laden with too many material things, so she tends to compensate for that with overabundance for the grandchildren. I hoped that she had salted some funds away in preparation for the grand fiesta.

She looked at me and said: “You know (as if the matter had been thoroughly discussed sometime in the past) we’ll be going over to Julie’s for Christmas day.”

I thought for a moment and asked: “You mean no one will be coming to our house Christmas morning?” This part of the dream almost awakened me completely.

“We’ll have our own Christmas, and the other families will have theirs. They need to start traditions, too,” she said.

Tradition—there it is. I’m a traditionalist. I like to see them develop, sometimes without any planning, and then lock-in as something to be cherished. I don’t like to surrender them. I felt the ache in my chest as I rolled over and covered my head with a pillow.

Now fully awake, I heard her voice through the down. “We’ll (I knew who that was) need to get the folding chairs and two folding tables loaded and taken over to Julie’s this afternoon. We’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner over there. Then I’ll want you to take all the presents in that back bedroom and hide them in closets and under beds. You might need to clean some of them out a little. You’re very good at those kinds of things. I really appreciate your help.”

Then, as I rolled back over, staring at the ceiling, it hit me. I better get prepared physically for all this heavy Christmas lifting and hauling and carrying and loading. I’ll need to lift some weights or something—get my blood going.

Slowly, I eased a foot out from the warmth of the covers and reached for the floor. “What do you know,” I said. “It’s there.”

I wandered out and found her in the kitchen.

“I know it’s hard for you to give up some family traditions—but I want you to know that the whole family will be here for Christmas eve—so make sure you know where your father’s Bible is—you know, the one you like to read the Christmas story from.”

I’m sure I must have smiled, and we hugged and kissed. In the middle of the embrace, right after I realized I had the most wonderful wife in the world, it hit me. I need to get prepared spiritually for Christmas. I wouldn’t want this bunch of grandchildren to grow up with a misconception of what this holiday truly represents—what it means for the world and everyone in it. A Savior is born.

She looked up at me and said: “I love you, Bob,” and I said “I love you, Diane. I really want to get ready for Christmas.”

“Wonderful,” she said. “Janet and I will be going out in a few minutes to shop some more, and I know you won’t mind fixing your own breakfast. And don’t forget to hide those things I bought yesterday,” she added…“and remember, we need to get those tables and chairs over to Julie’s right away.”

I felt another tradition beginning. Some traditions start without planning and then lock-in as something to be cherished.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like