When I worked at Foley’s Department store and Sears, I had the opportunity to work with the visual merchandising teams and would also be responsible for decorating the entire store for the holidays. Visual merchandising was my dream job and I loved every aspect of it. I thrived in that role and I was in heaven! Then once when we had to start decorating for Christmas right after Halloween, I began to dread the holidays. I just couldn’t get into the groove of Christmas and all that came with it that early. Since I worked in retail, it was mandatory to work the holidays and the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas which I absolutely hated because of all the chaos. The attitude of Bah Humbug was born!
Fast forward to living in Colorado and my first of many white Christmases which I loved. I lived in a quaint small ski resort town and it was beautiful during the holidays. It was like living in a postcard. I worked retail for a while in the beginning but it was nothing as bad as my experiences with Foley’s and Sears. I was working in a T-shirt/Souvenir shop so low key, no stress, and very laid back. Then after retail, my following employments not only gave us the holidays off, but we would also get paid! What more could I want?
I have some holiday memories of the first few years of living in Colorado where my friends and coworkers would get together since most of us didn’t have family to spend with. Those were good memories that I won’t forget. I’m not gonna lie, there were also times I spent with people I didn’t really know or like but had no one else to hang out with. I remember instances where the guys I dated didn’t celebrate the holidays so I would end up alone or hanging out at the bar with them. That definitely didn’t put me in the mood. I’m not proud of this but I remember one Christmas Eve I spent the night with a guy I had just met because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.
During my 14 year relationship, he wasn’t much for the holidays and I think he would make the traditional holiday meals just to amuse me. He knew I missed my family during the holidays and he did his best to make it special. Since he was a chef, more times than not he was also working during that time. I think he dreaded the holidays just as much as I did but for the reason that he was extremely busy and working long hours and me because again I was alone. Here again comes the attitude of Bah Humbug! After he left, I made it my mission to decorate my deck with lights and put up my Christmas tree. From then on, I was never alone again during the holidays thanks to my close friends and neighbors who lived downstairs from me.
So, over the last year of being back in Texas I’ve had a different perspective. Now, I’m home with family and friends and I can appreciate the holiday season more and the true meaning. I still can’t grasp decorating right after Halloween, or listening to Christmas music, or watching any Christmas movies. So still not in the mood, but I’ll get there.
The World of Dlo 