october 3, 2003 a hopeful Christmas

It’s 83 days before Christmas.

So says a billboard on Oranbo St., near Shaw Boulevard. I was on my way to work when I saw it. I didn’t know if I was going to be happy or be stressed out by the reminder. For an instant, I think I had wished that Christmas would not come so soon—there are still tons of bills to pay, a daughter to be born, some household repairs to be done. I don’t know if I can handle any more stress on top of these.

But when I think of my precious 20-month old first born—she who had been watching her VCD of Christmas baby songs as early as August, who had memorized “Jingle Bells” and who actually knew when to say “hee” (that’s hey for you) at the right time—I can’t help feeling guilty and embarrassed. Surely, it would be selfish for me to even think that Christmas could be postponed. To the eyes of a child, specially one who’s just beginning to appreciate Santa, Christmas knows no economic crisis. It just has to happen.

Indeed, how can you tell a tot to postpone her celebration of Christmas when as early as October, she begins to see all its trappings: the Christmas trees on sale, the colored lights, the street urchin pounding on his home-made bongo while waiting for people to dole a little cash out of their car windows.

We can actually learn a lesson or two from this. One is that, life and Christmas go on no matter what. And second, that no matter how hard life is—don’t you notice that life nowadays is becoming more and more difficult—there is always that sense of hope that Christmas brings. Somehow, we always feel that maybe, just maybe, things would get better by Christmas time. Which is as it should be, because I believe that Christmas also goes by the name HOPE. So if you are contemplating on postponing Christmas this year, think twice. You may actually be postponing hope.