Sunday, December 24, 2006 | by nathan

Me, I Want a Hula Hoop

It’s Christmas Eve. Almost all the presents are bought - there’s one rather popular item I’m getting for a friend that I.CAN’T.FIND.ANYWHERE. But even that doesn’t have my spirits down; I spent all day yesterday wrapping presents and trying to keep Sam from eating the wrapping paper. He did get hold of a few plastic bags while I was out running errands, but ah.

Tonight I’m going to my mom’s house, where my entire extended family will be - my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her son, my dad. Later tonight Bryon and I will meet up for our annual tradition of attending Midnight Mass at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Oklahoma City, after which we will head to a local gay bar for a drink and toast. We’ve been attending midnight mass every year since 1998, when Bryon converted to Anglicanism. We’ve been going for the drink every year since we turned 21, so in many ways this tradition outlasts many others my biological family has tried - in vain - to keep going.

Though tomorrow we will have ham and turkey, hot corn and stuffing and pie. The food must never change. One year mom threatened to order in sushi; grandma’s face turned white as a sheet. I wasn’t there, but I know for a fact that it did.

I feel like I rushed headlong into this season and almost forgot what it’s about; redemption coming in human form. Hegel would say that the birth of Christ represents the next revolution of Geist; man’s evolving awareness of God. I kind of like that idea, though to turn it around - the arrival of Christ, the culmination of Advent, is about God revealing Himself in human form, becoming one of us so we could become more.

Also, it’s about holding tight to your family - whoever that may be for you - and keeping warm, sharing what you have, and remembering to love one another. I’m looking forward to gathering my family around me and really holding on tight for the next couple of days. I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun buying gifts this year; it’s something I really enjoy, finding a perfect gift for someone. Mom ended up having to work on the day she thought she was going to do her shopping, so I offered to do it for her. She left me a credit card and some specific instructions, and a promise to pay me back for anything I couldn’t put on the card.

In lieu of that, I bought myself a nice pair of sandals that have beer bottle openers on the bottom. From her, to me. Perfect.

Tonight I’ll get Sam and we’ll head over to mom’s. We’ll spend the night and get up in the morning, where I will FORCE the family to watch all 24 hours of "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" while we cook, and eat, and clean, and fawn over how wonderful all our presents are. I made secrecy the order of the holiday this year - no one is allowed to ask anyone what they want; everyone must be surprised.

Though I gotta say, when my family is around each other, and everyone has shown up and is trying like hell to make everyone else’s day the best it can be, I’m always surprised. Not because it happens so seldom, because it doesn’t. I’m surprised because no matter how often it happens, it’s a miracle, and miracles are always surprising.

Happy Holidays, everyone.