Illustration of The Grinch courtesy of Pixabay
by Kelli Bowen
One of my favorite Christmas stories is The Grinch. As a kid, I loved it when the half-hour special came on each year. I liked (begrudgingly) the live-action version from 2000. I also like the full animated feature from the last decade.
The reason I like The Grinch, is it’s the ultimate redemption story. The Grinch hated the commercialism of Christmas (fair). He takes initiative to steal all the stuff to teach those Whos a lesson (okay). Then realized that Christmas isn’t stuff, a thing, or crap. Christmas is more than that.
This year my family was hit with illness over Christmas and we had our own “Christmas Doesn’t Come From A Store” moment. We didn’t get the Christmas cards mailed, the gifts wrapped, the cookies baked, the family hosted, etc, etc.
We didn’t make Lefse, or krumakaka, or sandbakkels, or rosettes. I didn’t make fudge. Hubby didn’t go shopping on Christmas Eve, and we didn’t go to Christmas service. We didn’t do a lot of our usual things, and that’s okay.
What we DID have was extra time watching Christmas movies and taking naps. We watched all of the versions of The Grinch. Miss A discovered she really likes “Miracle on 34th Street” (the original). We binged The Santa Clause and Christmas Chronicles movies. We discussed what we like best in movies, and memories, and curled up in our new blankets and matching pajama pants.
Christmas looked different but we agreed it was good. We were all under the weather, so it wasn’t one person’s “fault” that we missed out on parts. So even though Christmas looked different, it was still Christmas, and felt special.
After all, “Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”
Now that we’ve survived Christmas, on to New Year’s!
Kelli, a North Dakota girl through and through, has made her home from the eastern prairies to the western badlands with her supportive Hubby, two daughters, and ever-growing menagerie accompanying her along the way.