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Holiday feeling doesn’t have to end as new year begins

It's time to move on to the new year, so says Treena Mielke in her column for Ponoka News.
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Editorial/Opinion

The holiday season is pretty much done and over with for another year.

It’s time to move on.

But, luckily, there is no law that says it is illegal to take a few of those special memories of the season, now packed away along with the Christmas decorations, along with you to 2017.

I know I will.

Moments like pacifying my 10-year-old granddaughter after a day of shopping by standing in line forever at the New York Fries place in the food court even though I had momentarily lost all feeling in my feet.

Moments like almost sliding through the intersection on a busy thoroughfare on Christmas Day as the light turned red because I foolishly forgot that speed and ice don’t mix.

Moments like frantically rummaging through my purse to shut off my cell phone that rang incessantly as the minister prayed reverently for world peace during the Christmas Eve Service.

Okay, I agree.

None of those moments were magical, nor do they tug at the corners of my mind, a gentle reminder of all things good and beautiful.

They do not make me smile and they definitely do not bring me joy.

But, those moments were very much part and parcel of my Christmas, as real as the sugar cookies that didn’t quite get decorated and the Grinch (or perhaps it was constant use of my debit card) that seriously shrunk my bank account.

And, looking back, I have to think how lucky, how very lucky I was to have such few things to grumble and complain about during the holiday season.

Indeed, I truly was touched by joy through the whole thing.

And even those moments, those less than perfect moments weren’t so bad.

For one thing, I shared the New York fries with my will-o-the-wisp granddaughter and re-discovered food that is sinfully delicious.

And I discovered how sacred a Christmas Eve service could be. I also learned how benevolent and kind people can be, no matter what side of the pulpit they are on, especially to noisy little children and women who forget to shut their cell phones off.

On Christmas Day, a winter-wonderland, sharp, crisp day in December that literally sparkled with such white, pristine beauty it took my breath away I slid safely through a busy intersection, red light and all.

It truly was a joy to the world moment.

And several hours later, there was I, seated at a holiday feast surrounded by so many loved ones that the good and the not so good moments of Christmas got all blurred together.

And I got the feeling.

The holiday feeling. You know the warm, happy illusive, fleeting feeling people sing about and search for desperately only to find it’s right here, right now, right in front of them.

As I said, the holiday season is over. It’s done.

But, still, even as we head into the throes of a dark and dreary winter, its good to know that sometimes we don’t have to search for that feeling. It here. It’s now. It’s right in front of us.

And, seriously, we can be surprised by joy at any time.