Christmas Happens

The drawback of having a perfect life is that you don’t realize that in a time where family, love and all things good are romanticized; there are a number of people who find themselves in a less than perfect holiday portrait.

But Christmas happens. There really is no stopping it, hence the existence of less ideal Christmas stories.

Some of us may be in the company of our entire clan but a black hole called long-distance relationship pulls us out of the season’s festivities.

Some are groomed to face the holidays with newly acquired or discovered ailments. Be it chicken pox or lupus, hope is the perfect promise Christmas offers.

Some will do their best to reunite families even if it means spending Christmas in the least Christmassy places like a rehabilitation center.

Some are stuck at work. It brings in extra cash, yes, but work alone takes away the essence of the season.

Some will celebrate Christ’s birth, for the first time, in a foreign land that does not believe in Christ, let alone give a damn about His birth. Meanwhile those who had been in foreign shores for a time now will party this Christmas but will never be able to runaway from the void caused by missing one’s Christmas in one’s homeland.

Then again, some of us are forced to celebrate despite the wounds we are tending, despite our loss, despite our grief.

Because Christmas happens. There really is no stopping it.