Goodbye Old Friend

I wrote this a few years back and I was reminded of it as Sue took down our Christmas tree this year. As I have done every year, i have the slightest feeling of loss and just a bit of sadness as we face the reality of the new year.

I look at it with anticipation of new adventures, new beginnings, new ups, new downs. Let's make it a good one.

Goodbye Old Friend 

January 2, 2013

They provide us much joy yet they are the single most abused living creature on the face of the planet. When they are no longer useful to us they are simply stripped of their adornments and cast to the curb awaiting their inevitable destruction. Throughout the years their name has changed and songs have been written about them and this year as I see growing numbers being discarded unceremoniously I can’t help feeling a bit melancholy as I procrastinate doing what I know I must. Seeing it stand sentry in my living room window, still wearing the remnants of holiday garb like a passed out drunk wearing the accouterments of debauchery, looking worn and pitiful after the party ends.

My yule tree, decorated with tiny colored lights and shiny ornaments helped me celebrate the winter solstice and served double time as a Happy New Year tree, a tradition that was started a couple of years ago in my family, has served me well this year. It’s hard to believe that the holidays are actually over and I too must strip down and dispose of what has become a friend over the last six weeks.

I think what really bugs me the most is that now I have to face the reality of winter without further distraction of yuletide cheer. The once gaudily decorated houses will now go dark making the cold in the air seem more biting. I will now notice the nakedness of the trees and the blankness of the neighborhood. People in general will go back to their grumpy old ways as the spirt that gripped them a few short days ago disappears with every tick of the clock. The only redeeming quality of this time of the season is that the menacing bell ringers that graced the entrance to many a store with their red pots filled with the generosity of shoppers, will no longer guilt you into donating as "Merry Christmas" falls from their lips.

Now it’s time to break New Year’s resolutions. It’s a time for us to look at the coming year with high hopes and anticipation of a year better than the last. A time for both reflection and of planning.

A positive time.

So as I conclude this ode to an old friend, I see it still standing at its post. The lights are turned off and the decorations are a bit askew but STILL looking as noble as ever. I get the feeling that even IT is ready. It has served its purpose and I too must be that person that callously tosses the source of joy aside to make way for the promise of the future. The ornaments will be packed carefully away and the lights must be unstrung and wrapped carefully, knowing that I will curse and swear as I attempt to detangle them next year. And then it will lay bare before me somehow knowing that he served me well. A job well done. Until the seasons pass and before you know it, we will be doing the same things again. Just another year older when our old friend comes for another visit.