How I Found My Christmas Spirit In A Movie-Magic Moment
Somebody call Hallmark! I had a bonafide Christmas-movie-moment yesterday! I need to share it with you!
Looking back on past blood donations (pre-COVID!)
2020 has been a rough year for everyone and it has left me without the disposable income I would normally have this time of year. That means that I am up here making homemade Christmas presents like a low-budget Santa's Workshop. It also means that the donations that I would normally try to make to my favourite charities just aren’t in the budget this year. What I can do, however, is donate blood. That only costs me my time.
Being a blood donor is really special to me. For a long time I had a severe needle phobia which prevented me from donating blood. Then, once I overcame it, donating blood was how I could give back when I didn’t have the financial means of giving back. I consider myself very privileged to be able to donate blood at all (not everyone can!). It's very special to me.
So, yesterday I went and I made my pre-Christmas blood donation. I ate my snacks, drank lots of water, and went to the clinic. As I sat in the chair- the needle in my arm- making my donation, I heard my nurse singing quietly to herself.
“You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout…”
Without hesitation, I decided to join in. There we were! Nurse and donor in the middle of the blood donation clinic singing the chorus to Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It was beautiful! A movie-magic moment!
After our sing-along, we got talking about how Christmas doesn't quite feel like Christmas this year. We’ve missed all of the milestones leading up to it. Normally, we'd be doing Christmas shopping with Christmas music playing in the stores. There would be office Christmas parties. Where’s the Christmas foreplay?!
As I sat in that chair making my donation and chatting with my nurse, I had a thought. A quote from How The Grinch Stole Christmas popped into my head.
“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!”
I realized that my Christmas-movie-moment singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town with this nurse was the universe's way of reminding me that Christmas will come “just the same” this year.
However you're celebrating this year and whatever you're celebrating this year… I hope that you all have a movie-moment of your own! A moment that helps put this crazy thing that is 2020 into perspective and raises your spirits. Because after all...
“It came without ribbons. It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
Our sibling Christmas photo from 2 years ago. One of the things I’ll be missing in 2020!
I'm going to miss my Christmas traditions this year. I'm going to miss getting together with my family and smushing our mask-less faces together for family photos. I'm going to miss family dinners (even though I don't eat the turkey or the stuffing- just all the vegetables on the side!). I'm going to miss board game tournaments and epic games of charades. I'm going to miss watching my family open their presents and their stockings. BUT, even without all of those things Christmas is going to come just the same. That’s a guarantee.
I'm wishing you all the happiest and healthiest of holidays!
Sending you all my love!
Your big sister,
