It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…Not

Christmas is two weeks from today and let’s be honest.It feels more like two months away.

I know it still looks like the Christmas season as many  homes and businesses are decorated, Christmas trees are being sold and every other TV commercial makes it sound easy to wrap a bow around a Lexus or Mercedes. Certainly if you listen to the radio you know its Christmas and have had enough of Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Dominick the Donkey and The Christmas Shoes.

Please... I’ll gladly buy the shoes not to hear the song again.

Anyway the calendar tells us and we know Christmas is two weeks away but I can’t just find anyone who really feels the spirit this year. A friend told me last week that if he did not have small children he would just as soon skip the holiday all together. Of course this is not due to a sudden dose of “bah humbug” in our area but the hangover and daily reminders that go with the damage, destruction and now cleanup from Superstorm Sandy.

Even if you were not directly impacted by what happened just six weeks ago you probably know someone who was and it makes this a very different holiday season. So much has happened in such a short time that Thanksgiving came and went and now the same is about to happen to Hanukah and Christmas. It seems many people are going through the motions and doing the things they usually do at this time of year but without the same feeling.

To me Christmas is more than anything about that special feeling you give and receive from others. The joy of the season and the spirit of love and friendship. You don’t need a gift to show it. Sometimes a warm smile, firm handshake or hearty hug will do just fine although a Lexus or Mercedes with a bow in the driveway is not bad either.

Anyway it’s difficult to feel the joy when you know so many are facing daily struggles with trying to rebuild and fix homes or get businesses back open. I was behind a man in a store the other day when the clerk asked if he had decorated his home. His response was that he had no home to decorate but he might make his car look nice for the holidays since that’s where he was spending most of his time.

Maybe we have to just do the best we can because as Johnny Mathis sings “we need a little Christmas.”