Around this time of year, every year, it's the same rhetoric. What do you want for ______ (insert holiday)? What are you doing for ______ (insert holiday name) break? What are you thankful for?
I remember as a kid, I knew what I wanted for Christmas by the brand name, listed in priority order, by Halloween or earlier. My wish list featured all toys I had seen on TV or clutched in some other lucky kid's arms, and I was thankful when I got most of them. Or the BIG ONE on top of the list at least.
Every year of growing up has shrunk my wish list and lengthened my thankful list. This is strange and ironic, like a 'want' hyperbola. The closer I get to having all the stuff I want the farther I get from appreciating it. I don't know if something intrinsically changes in a person as he sheds his training wheels and braves it in the real world, or if it is simply the lens through which he views his priorities.
But I do know this: being away from home makes you yearn for home. Being away from friends makes you want to check facebook every few hours just to see what new silly thing they've posted about their everyday life. Being away from family makes you look forward to every video chat, every phone call, every e-mail.
I have barely thought about what I want for Christmas this year. Most everyone I know is skint on account of the crappy economy - even if they weren't, what would I ask for? I just want to go home. I want to see my husband, pet my evil cat, laugh with my goofy family, drink some tea with my friends.
And my thankful list - well, it's pretty much the same as my wish list. Just one addition: I'm thankful for wine gums. Man those things are tasty.
Wishing all of you in cyberspace a peaceful Christmas, surrounded by those things on your list that bring you joy.
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