As much as I would like to talk about Christmas ’63, I truly cannot. As I cannot describe most Christmases spent over the last 45 years; they have happened, there were the appropriate festivities, the good food in most cases, the bottles of wine and whatever family has been available at the time. Yet, after I left my family’s home in Cuba (cannot speak for someone else here, although I believe this was a widespread issue), Christmas lost a lot of importance. Not the spiritual side of it; just the personal aspects.
As it is in most Christian homes (regardless of the affiliation), at our home the celebration was a family affair. From December 19th or so, when my cousins arrived, until January 8th when they went back home (Tuinucu, a sugar mill close to the eastern limits of the province) it was a day-to-day fun thing. Most times I was alone, or with my sister (which, as most of us brothers know, is no great fun!!) When my cousins came (summer time and Christmas) then I had two more boys more or less my age and my sister two girls, one her age and Marivi, the family’s baby, with whom to play. My (our, but I am possessive) grandmother would always be at the heart of the celebrations. A life long practicing catholic, these days were important to her and she made the most of it. Christmas was always celebrated in a big way; the traditional Cuban foods, the festivities, staying up with the adults, seeing some of them really go for it (drinking a lot of Spanish sidra –hard apple cider) our sneaking a little whenever we could; playing with the neighborhood kids, also out of school, midnight mass, the big dinner on the 24th, (not the 25th), Midnight Mass, followed by getting ready to receive the new year in a big way. Twelve grapes to be guzzled (pits included then) while grandmother was banging the 12 “chimes” on the bottom of the big pan. No, we did not receive presents from Santa, but from the Three Wise Men (Tres Reyes Magos) on the morning of January 7th. This was part of the anticipation for us kids, knowing that with the New Year, there would be presents waiting for us. Downside? School started again on the 8th or the 9th, depending on what weekday the 7th fell. Not much time to play with the new toys; that, is one definite advantage that the Santa Claus crowd has.
I can visualize and re-live my Christmas past (way past) much better than those Christmases which have taken place since. This does not seem fair to the loved ones with whom I have shared them but, those inner feelings were kept to myself over the years because I eventually understood that 1) it was my problem and not theirs (or their fault) and, 2) I could not go back and regain what was lost. Actually, in the last few years I have come to begin to enjoy the season again.
There must be enough fodder in the previous paragraphs to feed at least 3 Psych sessions. Then again, we are truly our best psychologists, since the best conversation that can be had is the one with oneself. As long as we don’t kid ourselves; after all, we need to gain and retain our own trust. Oh well…
Going back to Richland, we celebrated Christmas in much the same way: midnight mass (truly difficult for me to go through it then) and then home to wait for Santa and open presents. Dinner on the 25th and then visit friends to compare the “gettings”. Of course, an exchange of presents with my girlfriend (I believe I got a necklace for her) and a visit to her home to have a bite to eat and to visit for a while. Also, we (the two of us) went to an old folk home to spend some time with them and brighten them up a little. Remember I made a mention yesterday to the fact that us boys do receive common sense late in life? Well, I remember that once when we went to the home, Tresha was dancing with a couple of the older guys (they loved it!) and I actually became jealous… Nuff said?
Of course, as New Year’s Eve approached, it was exciting because there would be a party or two where we could go, and then the well wishing and all the resolutions to be had for the new year. It is amazing how these resolutions somehow remain over the years and many do not change. They become life long quests; perhaps it would better be said they are repeated attempts at expressing the wish to accomplish issues which we know are not really important enough to pursue in earnest, yet very impressive as part of a list that will go, once again, unfulfilled. Now, be honest!! How many times have you not sworn to lose weight (especially when you get on a scale after all the holiday feasts), to no longer do such and such, or to be “better” (these last, unspecified promises are the best since we can always get around them). Every New Year’s Eve, right? We get into the habit of doing this at a very early age and then we improve upon our offerings as we get older. Some are actually well thought out, but equally unattended past February. My case is stated.
Spring was great; we started swimming in the mornings as soon as the ice on the pool was thin enough to break easily… or so it felt to me. Actually there was no ice, but there was a definite frost like feeling to the water. In those mornings we would take a long run from the fence at the end of the pool compound and jump into the water before we had a chance to think about it and realize we were not penguins. Especially, this “penguin” boy from the Caribbean. As we fell into the water, we would start swimming as hard as we could. I do believe that if those first two laps were to be timed, we would be sure to have a world record somewhere in there. They were usually the fastest swim of the day. My legs would kick like they were strapped to a giant vibrator; eventually, the body would return to a human like temperature and we would continue with the laps. All these mornings followed by the afternoon swimming did pay off in the end. We did well in our meets that year, early in the summer and it felt good for me, since those few months were to be my farewell months. I did garner a gold medal in a Jr. Olympics meet we had somewhere in the Yakima Valley (can’t, for the life of me, remember where) and the team did OK.
Our lives would begin to change soon; school would be over and new frontiers were to be conquered. Problem was that the frontiers were not quite visible yet and we were not really trying very hard to find them.
More on frontiers and life decisions tomorrow (that is, if the internet connection helps…)
Be well… Bye!
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