The Hang-Ups of Holidays

Do you think holidays and vacations are highly overrated? No, I didn’t think so. Me either. But I must say, if there were never any holidays, there would never be that inevitable re-entry into normal life. No longer “on location”, I am finding myself struggling with the re-entry of my commonplace existence. Don’t get me wrong – I was happy to come home. I was happy to see Hubby, and to have a very affectionate cat never leave my side. I was happy that I stayed up till all hours of the night cleaning, so that I could come home to a clean house. But the reunions have been celebrated and the suitcases have been unpacked, and now…there is the routine. II am left with the routine of normal living, and I feel a little let down.

Really, how does normal living even stand a chance against the excitement of excursion? How can one go back after being spoiled by her mother, and enjoying shopping sprees with her sister? How can life compare to playtime with nephews and reunions with Bible school friends? And then there are the special moments with Grandma and her homemade soup and buns, and evenings at my sisters, and the feeling of actually having friends and being able to talk and laugh and share from the heart. How can the everyday even stand a chance against that kind of excitement? It can’t really. But I guess what we can do is hang on to those memories and hope that the joy in them will keep us until the next vacation comes around.

Does it sound like I don’t like my life? I don’t think that’s completely true. But I guess I do wish that some of the feelings and moments from my holiday would enter into some of the everyday of my normal routine. Sometimes it is hard to be living away from family and friends. I wish that my sister and her family lived closer. I wish that my nephews could come over after school and tell me about their day over milk and cookies. I wish that Grandma lived closer so that she could teach me how to make those great homemade buns. I wish that getting together with Bible school friends could be a monthly occurrence instead of an every-five-year occurrence. But I guess the infrequency of these things make them more special when they do happen, and that’s what makes a holiday a holiday. Sunning myself on the beaches of Aruba wouldn’t be a vacation if it happened everyday. Then it would just be an everyday occurrence…it would just be routine.

So to sum up – I had a very good “get-away”. I have a lot of good memories to make the transition into everyday living a little sweeter. Thanks to all of you who had a part in that.