Christmas in Review
Chicago. It gets cold here, but it really hasn't been that bad. It gets windy here, but according to things I read it is not particularly more windy here than anywhere else. The "Windy City" moniker originated elsewhere, but where is a bit of a debate.
Nevertheless, this is where I live now. Over Christmas I joked, "Home is where your stuff is" as a play on the old saying. It got a lot of laughs, but for the most part this is true. Moving here was a huge leap out of my comfort zone, but as stupid as this sounds, having some things stay the same (i.e. my stuff) makes it more manageable.
Christmas was good, but it really snuck up on me this year. I did not send any Christmas cards and didn't do any real shopping until the 23rd when we got to Louisville. For me, the hardest part about Christmas shopping is not the lines or the crowds (though I am wont to bitch about them while shopping) it is not knowing what people want. My dad never wants anything, my mom will never give me a good idea, and my brothers and I seldom exchange gifts.
Before leaving Chicago, I bought some spices for my mom at The Spice House. So I had her gift covered. We had to dig my car out of two previous snow events before leaving, so it took us a couple of hours longer than we figured to hit the road. Then I had to find a place to air up my tires. This caused a lot more stress than it should have. I also needed gas, so in my mind, I was looking for a place that gave free air for customers. Maybe they don't exist in Chicago. Even still, I was willing to pay the 50 cents or whatever (seemed reasonable) but the first station we went do didn't have any change. Still not being intimately familiar with the city, I had no idea where to go next. It was 7 degrees, a little breezy, and my tires were at least 10 pounds low on air. We eventually found a place.
We stayed with my mom on the evening of the 22nd and exchanged gifts on the morning of the 23rd after breakfast. Then it was shopping time. I saw my grandma and then I saw my dad and he gave me an incredibly nice gift. Then we drove to southeastern KY.
On the return trip, we stayed with my dad for a day.
I think I used to take living in Louisville for granted. This trip forced me to think more about my medium to poor relationship with my family and how I had to do time sharing with everyone to make it all work. I used to just avoid some of my family knowing that I would see them at some event that I didn't avoid. Now that I live here, its much harder to do that. I had to make the most of my trip to Louisville and that meant a lot of time sharing, driving, etc.
In the end, the trip was a good thing. We got to see everyone, relax some, drink some, eat a lot, and we brought back a Camry full of stuff. I didn't know you could fit so much stuff into a Camry.
posted by Andy G. @ 9:02 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I imagine you leaving Louisville is a lot different than me leaving Paducah was, just b/c of the more extended family you had in Louisville.
To me, home is more of a feeling than a place. In that sense there are many different places and times that I "feel at home."
One of them is when I'm driving back to Louisville from Paducah. Driving back into the city after a 3 hour drive makes me really feel like I'm getting home.
Another is when I am finished at a long day of work. That feeling of opening the door, dropping the keys, and plopping down on the couch is really a feeling of "home" and it wouldn't matter where I was at the end of the day, it would still feel like "home" to me.
Paducah still feels like "home" to me, b/c it is the house I've lived in the longest. Even though I haven't lived there in 7 years, and the stuff that used to be mine doesn't really feel like it is mine anymore, it still feels like home to me.
Lastly being in New Orleans after Christmas makes me feel like I'm at home as well. For as long as I can remember we were always down in Louisiana around Christmas time. It has only been the last 10 years that we haven't done it as much.
I guess I kind of feel at home when I go to some of the "traditional" vacation spots my family goes to.
Anyways, good topic.
Thanks for the comment! I agree that moving here was much more of a disconnect, but in some ways it just made my quasi-divorce from family more official...which also made me realize that perhaps I should have spent more time with my family while I had the opportunity.
I can feel at home in a lot of places, but usually at some point I crave to be at my home, with my bed, my cat, and the rest of my stuff.
The house I grew up in is now owned my someone else since my mother sold it after the divorce. Where my parents each live now is foreign to me. I have driven past my old house and each time I do I feel pangs of sentimentality. I spent 20 or so years in that house, it still holds lots of memories for me.
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