Saturday, December 24, 2005

Twinkle Twinkle

It should come as no surprise to anyone that TinyTuna had a plan. She had decided that Christmas Eve dinner should be a candlelight affair -- and by candlelight, I mean ONLY candlelight allowed. TinyTuna, GramTuna and I were to eat together, basking in the glow of hundreds of candles plus one well-lit Christmas Tree, and enjoy a special time together.

I'm sorry to say, I probably rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking.

TinyTuna loves the spectacle seen through the eyes of Norman Rockwell and tied up with one hundred Martha Stewart bows. I can only aspire to her elaborate dreams, because even when her idea of a summer afternoon respite includes a lazy Susan crammed with yogurt, raisins, Skittles, an old banana, popsicles, microwave popcorn, bread and a center compartment overflowing with butter, at least she had a plan and went to the trouble to see it through.

So, despite the private eyerolling deep in my soul, I said OK, while secretly hoping she'd forget all about it.

I had no idea how we were going to pull this off. My house is a holiday themed wreck, with everything all over everywhere, including my 32-inch Toshiba (it was FREE!) that continues to sit on the floor (I really should throw some tinsel on it or something). GramTuna's house wasn't much better, since every flat surface has become the Christmas Cookie Corral; something I cannot do now that I have hungry, greedy and evil furry toddlers. I'm not sure they'd eat the cookies, but I bet they'd grab a bunch and play with them.

After we got home tonight from Church the First (4pm service), TinyTuna went to work to prepare the way of the candlelight dinner. She cleaned up the table and made my crooked piles straight. She was not to be deterred. Like it or not, we WERE going to go through with this.

Surprisingly, though, things started to pick up quickly and we grabbed as many candles and votives as we could find and started to light them. Between the candles and the colorful tree, I had to admit that she was right: it really was a beautiful, special setting. I would have never thought it would have worked, but she believed in it all along.

Tonight and tomorrow and hopefully many tomorrows to come, my wish is to remember the light. It doesn't matter much if you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Solstice or something else or nothing at all. It doesn't have to be about a deity. The common theme is recognizing the difficulties and darkness in our existences, and then looking towards the light, be it physical or spiritual. Each of us need to find those things that heal us, inspire us and uplift us. As a world community we understand hardships and sadly, the difficulties of our existence will never be entirely gone. But with a light, be it one candle or one hundred, there is comfort and hope during the darkest of times.

I know it's hard to believe. I didn't at first. But TinyTuna did, and showed us all. One candle at a time.



Merry Christmas.

1 comment:

Gary said...

Merry Christmas, Tuna! I hope you and yours all have an excellent Christmas season and a great New Year!