Quote:
Originally Posted by ReNew Me
Well, I'll chime in here because I've skipped holidays for a long, long time. My husband has worked for a major dept. store for over 40 years and frankly, he's suffered from holiday burn-out for oh, like 30 of them, seriously. He's glutted with Christmas before most people start shopping for Halloween candy.
Around the same time our kids were moving out all of our parents died within a year of each other. My mother then one year later hubby's mother and father within 12 hours of each other (unrelated deaths, just freaky circumstances, they'd been divorced over 35 years). Anyway, that was all the family we have anywhere nearby. Between his job overshadowing the holiday season and being empty nesters and not much in the way of friends making a big deal out of holidays is really pointless.
The one thing I will say is that you do have this odd feeling of being "left out". Like you're not doing something you should be. Especially if you're not getting together with family or friends, it's very strange and even after having done it for years we still feel it.
Honestly, I don't miss eating the food (I lost a lot of that when I became gluten intolerant) so much as I miss being in the kitchen and preparing it with my mother. She's been gone 10 years now and that's the one thing I think about that still gets me. I really miss cooking with someone who knows what they're doing!
It's interesting how different stages of life compel one to celebrate the holidays. My parents live alone in Europe, with one child in the USA (me) and one child long passed away. They don't look forward to holidays much, don't do much in terms of decoration and refuse to get a christmas tree. They did the hupla with us when we were growing up but it seems they are past that stage and maybe feel guilty enjoying a holiday now.
I on the other hand have a young son and want to make every season and every holiday the most fun it can be, I don't want to miss an opportunity to do something seasonal. At the moment we are immersed in autumnal activities such as apple and pumpkin picking, hay rides, halloween activities, hiking in the woods to see the changing leaves, decorating the house and making pies lol.
Which leads me to say to the OP that holidays are not just about food. They are about traditions and seasonal activities. Food is in the background, it won't be in the foreground unless you make it the most important thing. We can't shield ourselves from life, food will always be there.
I also find that there are too many things to eat during the holidays. I don't really want to eat a lot of pumpkin pie. I'm happy with a cinammon candle stick to make the room smell good, a bowl of apples on the table to make me feel autumnal and pumpkin spice flavored coffee (the flavored coffee grounds, not the expensive latte type) to make me feel warm and fuzzy and in the spirit of the season. There are plenty of ways to celebrate without relying solely on food.
