There’s a country song called If We Make It Through December, which is for me on the list of the ten most beautiful songs in the universe. Sung by the late Merle Haggard. Yes, a country singer named Merle brings a certain emotion. Personally, I find it so beautiful that, even if I closed my shop in the children’s department for a long time, I sometimes have a bubble in my brain and the desire for a second ti-guy… just to call him Merle. (The latter would like to run in the fields and turn the pages of his little encyclopedia on birds.)
But if we go back to the song, it basically says that if we can get through December, everything is going to be okay. The coldest month of winter, according to Merle, who shivers as she watches the snow fall. I will not dwell on the rest of the lyrics, although they are magnificent, I am especially inhabited by the strength of the title while writing today. A title that assumes that the more we advance in the month of December, the more difficult it can be. You just have to pass it. If you love Christmas, make the most of it, but tell yourself that there is also someone around you who is just looking forward to the 26th. To start dreaming of spring, then of the sun.
It should still be noted that some people want to be alone at Christmas. My massage therapist told me that one of her clients had decided to work during the holidays. “Less complicated like that. The suppers she doesn’t want to go to, she can’t go. A damn good deal settled.
In greater numbers, there are obviously those who work and who would prefer to be with their loved ones. Taxi drivers, bus drivers, employees in emergencies, airports… They see and they feel life, departures… They face both smiles and suffering. Do they want to finish their shift earlier than usual? I remember my father-in-law, a dedicated firefighter who, during the holidays, also had to stay at the fire station for some years. Fun fact: he came to take a walk around the fold dressed in a crooked Santa Claus costume, his big black mustache protruding from his white beard cheaprecognizable times a thousand.
But what do people who do not work and who have not chosen to be alone at Christmas do? Drinking and dozing are part of the truths. But that’s the cliché. There are also those who cry, who think, who turn on the TV without much interest. Or those who will decide to listen to the silence. Those who will look out the window, go for a walk, eat something they like, don’t eat, pet their cat, pet nothing, go to bed.
I have an estranged friend who, one Christmas Eve, didn’t have custody of her daughter. Single for a while, relaxing on her sofa, she decided to go on Tinder. Why not ? There isn’t a worse day than the others to go on this devil’s app. Joking aside: a divorced father without his children, living a few blocks away, logged on at the same time. And it turns out that they liked each other… The Grinch wouldn’t believe it, but… It’s a match !
On the morning of December 25, when she was five years old, my daughter woke up and headed straight for the living room, excited to discover her presents. However, his father and I were not there. Nowhere in the house. A few hours before, I had had very strong contractions, very sudden. I thought I was giving birth next to the tree, it was so powerful. Not giving birth in the hospital: my fear. “If we have time to wait for an ambulance, we have time to surrender! I shouted at the father, who no longer knew where to go. OK, but what are we doing with our daughter? Ayoye, it’s true, we also have a sleeping child! Quickly ! Nicole! Go knock on Nicole! So, that morning, my daughter didn’t meet Santa Claus, but something just as surprising, on our couch: the neighbor in her dressing gown.
And for you, Maya, what was it like giving birth to your boy on December 25? Ben… A hospital, it continues to roll, regardless of the date. With employees who have chosen to work, and others who will not say so, but who surely just want to give up their camp to go find their loved ones. And those who came to replace them having just left their party, to create another one.
I pushed as I watched the flakes fall through the window. And every year when I’m not with my son on his birthday, being separated today, I see again this snow, in which we brought back to his sister the most beautiful gift.