"My Love/Hate of Holidays"

(Written 1/3/11 by ChristopherK2 for the Uglier Marylanders Blog)

As many of you know, I was raised in a small town back in the era best captured by Norman Rockwell paintings. Each of the then holidays (this was before disgusting crap like President's Day) was celebrated by everyone I knew in pretty much the same way. And the more major the holiday, the more uniform was the celebration. This sameness is also part and parcel of tradition, and I'm nothing if not traditional. So, the holidays have long given me great comfort as they have come and gone over the decades.

But also, shit happens in life...

Valentine's Day--Long my fav holiday because it's all about romance. Hearts, flowers, candy... great stuff. It sucks somewhat if you're not IN a romantic relationship at the moment, but even then it's still a reminder of what can be and what once was.

But also... my dad died on Valentine's Day just before I turned 7. I still have no idea how Mom managed to raise me to believe so strongly in the positive values of the day. And yeah, of course, I still think about Dad then.

Memorial Day--A somber and bittersweet holiday for those my age. Everyone I knew had dads and/or uncles who served during World War II, and I had two aunts who served. Many of us lost one of them. My near-identical twin Uncle Mike died in the invasion of Normandy. I've written extensively about that on the AOL message boards, and still post something about it every Memorial Day.

And nearly everyone my age has close relatives whose graves have military markers. The first one I vividly remember was for one of my aunts, who received a full military burial. The haunting notes of "Taps" strongly affect me even now. And I still have the flag given to Mom after my brother's funeral...

Father's Day--A great holiday IF you still have a dad or are one. I was a stepfather for seven years and loved every Father's Day during that period. I still have and treasure the "World's Greatest Dad" ballpoint pens they gave me.

But also... my big brother... who was so important in my life... died on Father's Day at his age 56.

So, I now essentially try to pretend that holiday no longer exists.

July 4th--When I was a kid, this was mainly a neighborhood-by-neighborhood celebration. One of the neighbors would head south to buy a huge supply of "illegal" fireworks, we'd spend the evening setting off *real* fireworks, a friendly cop would stop by 'cause some anonymous sourpuss complained and the cop would tell us to "keep it down" then leave, and we'd start blasting away again. Great times, especially for guys, and it probably started my love of "blowing up stuff."

Later, the holiday became for me synonymous with the Beach Boys on The Mall in DC... great music, an unbelievable fireworks display up close, and 500,000+ of your closest friends.

But also... I was married on July 5th, which turned out to be a very bad idea after we split. Kinda somewhat ruined that holiday thereafter...

Thanksgiving and Christmas--I have tons of great memories of both of these holidays. But they are mainly for family, especially children. For a childless orphan with no siblings, great memories must often suffice.

New Year's Eve/Day--We guys love the college football games, of course, although spreading them out to include *other* days is just plain heresy. Harumph! As to NYE, I really don't have many memories of it one way or the other.