So This Was Christmas in 2020

Quiet.

Less stressed.

Maybe not as much fun, but definitely ok.

Yes, I missed my family and my husband's family. But things are changing anyway, so I think the Christmases of the past will stay there.

Facetime likely will be the new reality.

Our holiday began on the 23rd, with my father and stepmother stopping by. We all stood outside my house in a chilly wind, masks on our faces, talking about the strange year. My father dared not get any closer because there was a Covid outbreak at his company. While he is retired, he still goes into the office occasionally. Everyone was awaiting test results.

We had placed two chairs on the deck - one for taking presents, one for leaving presents. It worked well.

My brother came by later, dropping off gifts and picking his up. When I put on a mask and moved to go outside to speak with him, he stopped me. "You stay in the house!" he said firmly. He, too, works at my father's business and was awaiting test results. (The family's all came back negative, but several employees have not been as lucky.)

I am sick a lot. Since August, I've had two infections that required antibiotics. Immediately after Thanksgiving, I started fighting a digestive thing that mimics the ulcers I had in 2013. It's either ulcers, my hiatal hernia, or intensely bad reflux. Whatever it is, it took the chocolate out of the holidays, and I've dropped eight pounds by eating a mostly bland diet. (The pounds can go, so that is not a bad thing.)

Christmas Eve in the past would have been a long day. I always had a open house; people came and went from about lunch time until 8 p.m. My table would have been piled with food - cakes, cookies, fudge, brownies, cheeseballs, crackers, etc. This year, I made three small cheeseballs - one for my husband and me, one for my mother-in-law, and one to stash in the freezer for a few weeks.

That was the extent of my cooking.

Christmas Eve this year was calm and quiet. I did laundry. My husband fed the cattle. We watched the weather, which was calling for snow. 

Around 4 p.m., my brother and I had Facetime. He opened his gifts and I opened mine. We have always exchanged presents on Christmas Eve.

He told me his son had become engaged the night before, on the boy's birthday. (My nephew announced it after Christmas on Facebook, complete with photos.) He warned me Christmas would be different in the future, probably. Of course it will be, if my nephew becomes a father himself. My brother will want to spend the holidays with his grandchild.

My brother gave me some Legolas Greenleaf Tea from England. His girlfriend gave me a Kalimba, a thumb piano, to learn to play. I gave him cookware (he loves to cook) and a book of photos of children, made from pictures I'd taken over the years. He and his girlfriend gave me a Joe Biden coloring book. We are opposites in politics, but I took no offense. I don't see Joe Biden as a superhero, as he was depicted in the pages. He's just a nicer guy than the current occupant of the White House.

Christmas morning, we woke to snow on the ground. I couldn't remember the last time I'd awakened to snow at Christmas. I remember Christmases when there was already snow on the ground from earlier snowfalls, but not waking up to the shimmering whiteness of a new snow.

My husband and I opened our gifts to one another.  We bought each other clothes, mostly. I gave him nine books to read; he's already finished one of them. He gave me a looper for my electric guitar, which I will have to learn how to use. It allows me to have background tracks to songs.

My father and stepmother had given us a goodie basket that included fudge (I froze that until my tummy is better), three Christmas bells that once belonged to my mother, and chocolate items from Harry & David's. Those I haven't figured out what to do with yet. I don't know if you can freeze truffles.

I received two books from friends. Another friend brought cookies earlier in the week, and gave me a cooking gizmo that makes spirals out of zucchini and squash.

At lunchtime, we visited my mother-in-law. She lives across the street (which is not as close as it would be in a city - it's a half-mile away). We had ham biscuits accompanied by crackers and cheeseball. We gave her a necklace, a sweater, and an embroidered blanket. She gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card, which I have already spent online.

Past Christmas Days used to be full of people. We'd got to my mother-in-law's and have dinner. My husband's sister's family would be there as well. We'd have a merry time exchanging gifts.

We did not see any of my husband's family on Christmas Day, aside from his mother. We wore masks in her house except when eating.

I think those party days at my husband's mother's house are over. My sister-in-law is a grandmother now; she wants to be with that grandbaby, not her older brother. I understand that. Life goes on, as it should.

I spoke on the phone with my aunt in Texas. I talked briefly with my father and he later texted me that he and my stepmother loved their presents. My niece also texted me a thank you for her present.

It really was the most stress-free Christmas I can remember. A little sad, too, I suppose - I would have loved to have seen my great niece (18 months old) around presents and a tree. I would have liked to have seen my niece, who turns 19 next week, to congratulate her in person on her first semester of college.

I told my husband we've moved into the realm of "old people's" Christmas.

It wasn't so bad.

We had each other.