Moira Keith

This is classic and brings a smile to my face every time I watch it.

I have loved The Nightmare Before Christmas since it came out. Tim Burton is a genius, if not a wee bit odd. I think it is truly part of his brilliant artistic vision. This is the first year my kids are old enough to even show interest in watching it. So I’m super excited. I found this online and just had to share. It’s a little long, but of course if I didn’t think it was worth it I wouldn’t share. Plus I found it fitting since I’ve entered the poetry section of my English class. Not my favorite section, but this and Edgar Allan Poe might sway me yet.

I remember certain things about the holidays from growing up. Sure there were toys that were memorable… though more often than not there were particular circumstances around the presents that left more of a mark (and not in a good way).

Truly the things I remember were the little things. When we were younger, we lived out of the country, but my parents still tried to keep family traditions the centerpiece of our holidays. Christmas Eve we were allowed one gift to open and it was always a pair of Christmas pajamas. Baking and home made chocolate covered cherries…well need I say more? Family and friends were also another major cornerstone in our holidays.

Later, when we came back to the states, we carried on a tradition that was something from my father’s side of the family. Christmas Eve was the night where the family did an open house. Friends, neighbors, and family stop by at the leisure and enjoy some time visiting. That has always been the one constant. Family and friends. Now I look at my kids. Granted they are only six, and to a child Christmas is about the gifts. I am sure it was for myself and my sister as well at that age. That being said, it is a bit disheartening, especially at a time when the economy is in the toilet, to see parents running around frantically trying to figure out how to buy their kids the hottest new toy, video game, etc.

I walked through the store and thought my kids don’t need any of this. They won’t appreciate it and its hard earned money that is getting dumped into things that will be broken in two weeks. Yes, I can hear people muttering under their breath about how it is about the children. Buy the damn toys and quit my whining. I get it and will be getting off the soap box shortly.

First though, I just have to say my peace. I think that this year has made me realize how over done things are and how far from the important things we’ve managed to stray. Traditions, family, and friends old and new are what make the holidays memorable. Twenty years from now the kids may remember the My Little Pony that was in their stocking or (dating myself here) the excitement of finding their first Cabbage Patch doll under the tree before Christmas morning and the hurt and disappointment that little re-wrapping fiasco brought on their parents, but more often than not the toys aren’t memorable. They aren’t what matters. We need to get back to what matters.

Okay I am done… my bah humbug moment has passed and I am off to re-discover the meaning of Christmas, because for my grandmother who’s absence is felt more and more every year, this was her time of year. She lived for this. She was good at it. She glowed, sparkled,and  lit up a room simply by being in it. One very important lady who helped teach us that laughter is an antidote to almost all of life’s ills. That as long as you had family and friends around you, well you were richer than Trump. I want to capture that. To be that woman. So grandma… I will try to make you proud.

Sláinte!

It is important that we never lose sight of why Memorial Day exists. As we prepare to celebrate, many of us are up to our elbows in BBQ preparations or planning to attend one thrown by friends and/or family. Yet there is more to this holiday than BBQ’s and kicking off the summer. 

We live in a country where we have many freedoms that others around the world do not. To protect our freedoms and to attempt to provide others with the same opportunity to taste such freedoms…many men and women have paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is quite disheartening to see generations not far behind me, who do not understand the sacrifices made by those who came before them. Even more so, are the actions taken by those who have never served our country in such a capacity, yet they are willing to look down their noses and shun the very people who put their lives on the line for us.

As a woman who grew up in a military household, my views may be somewhat different than others. Maybe my father’s enlistment instilled more than pride in our country, but a respect for the armed forces and it’s people that protect our way of life. Yes there are other forces out there that play into the grand scheme of things, I am not ignorant afterall. But we must remember that at the end of the day, when we lay our heads down in our beds, many brave men and women  have risked everything to proctect the freedoms of this country. They were sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, friends, husbands and wives. All of them made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Honor them when you are at your BBQ. Remember those that are still serving away from their loved ones as well as those who have fallen in protection of this country and its people.  

I am proud to be a part of a family who has a very rich military history, just as I am proud to have friends who have served their country in the Army, Air  Force, Marines and Navy. Do I feel our country is without fault? No. Do I feel the men and women who have fallen doing their duty for their country deserve a day to memorialize them forever? Ab-so-freaking-lutely.

Remember the sacrifices made by those who came before us… being made by many today… and those that will be made in the future.