It’s already December! This means Christmas!
“Time flies when you’re having fun!”
I don’t know about you but the past two years have been rather challenging for me especially with the covid19 pandemic at our doorstep. So for me – more than ever – this is the perfect time of the year to take some timeout to rest, reflect and recharge before we crossover into 2022. My canary yellow suitcase is packed and ready to jet off to the beach anywhere out there. The catch is, I have my three awesome sons who will want to tag along.
Excited about the holidays!
The joys of single motherhood.
Before my first son who is now a teen was born, I enjoyed a few spontaneous solo beach holidays in East London, Durban, and Cape Town, South Africa. In fact a few years back when it was just my firstborn son and I, I left him with a family friend and went on a solo beach holiday to Maputo, Mozambique. It was just what my mind, body, and soul needed. I must say that the beaches in Cascais, Portugal are to die for. When my first son was five years old we flew there for a spiritual retreat and the timeout at the beach was like a classic scene from one of those fifties films; what an absolutely stunning experience it was! Another place I absolutely enjoyed is Tel Aviv, Israel and it’s my dream to visit again. My second and third sons have not traveled with me on holiday yet and I dream to have them with me on a beach getaway. It doesn’t have to be beyond our borders, it can be right here in South Africa. I vividly remember, how my then four-year-old was excited when his bare feet touched the beach sand for the first time in the waves of the Indian Ocean in Durban. I often imagine the same experience for his younger brothers. The other day Nonto, my sister-friend, mentioned that she would love to go to Zanzibar, Tanzania, so we have it in our plans. I’ve heard that it’s a lovely place from friends who have visited. Zanzibar is on my bucket list as well and so is Greece. I am madly in love with the sea blue and stain-free white architecture of Greece that flood many travel posters out here. If the Greek food is better than what I have tasted in Greek restaurants here then I cannot die before I get to indulge it in all its authenticity.
My second and third sons have not traveled with me on holiday yet and I dream to have them with me on a beach getaway
But, it’s not that kind of Christmas
The festive season this year will be different for my family and I. We lost my dad four months ago; out of the blue he slipped away into a diabetic coma one Sunday morning. In fact, my family and I have lost a lot of family and close friends due to covid19. As much as I love Christmas, spending time with them, listening to carols at church and hearing the pastor preach about the same ancient story of how Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born, we’re all going to take a break from that this year. We’re all on our personal healing journeys especially from the great loss of my dad and this will be our first Christmas without him. Not to put the dumper on the merriness of the festive season but this timeout from each other may also be a good time to heal. You can never put time on the healing process but come Christmas 2022 we’ll all be together again doing what we all love doing best year in and year out; eating lots of delicious food made by my aunts and I, listening to Christmas songs, laughing our hats off, dancing out of tune and taking blurry photographs. One really fun thing I loved about our last Christmas with dad is what I call the ‘Secret Santa Basket’. This is when each family member gets a gift for no more than one hundred South African rands. Without saying whom it’s from we each secretly put it in the ‘Secret Santa Basket’. On Christmas day somehow we all pick the gift that we either wished for or needed. It’s a lot of fun!
As much as I love Christmas, spending time with them, we’re all going to take a break from that this year. We’re all on our personal healing journeys especially from the great loss of my dad and this will be our first Christmas without him.
But it’s still Christmas, so enjoy!
Whatever you decide to do with whoever this festive season, enjoy your timeout, guilt-free and with no worries about the future. There is no time like the present. Dare to make the most of is because tomorrow is not promised. The energy of the festive season is contagious and this can either be a good or bad thing for different folks but you decide how you want to play along. A couple of months ago I saw a long-sleeved top which the inscription, “This Girl Loves Christmas” and I bought it because even though I don’t usually go all out with Christmas decorations and shopping, I do love Christmas. I love the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is special in its own unique way. I find it inspirational and motivational. With all the travel bans due to the covid19 pandemic, as much as I am craving a family beach holiday, I may have to take a rain cheque this time around. I am just so happy, grateful and thankful my sons and I are live and that even though we won’t be going away to the beach, we will be together and for me this matters most than anything else. In my timeout this festive season, I will most definitely be relaxing and sipping a bloody Mary, while laying on my brand new velvet blue couch in my “This Girl Loves Christmas” long-sleeved top. After all, it’s Christmas!
