Friday, December 07, 2007

All I want for Christmas ...

“In the end we are all separate: our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our differences we must learn to respect.”

Is that quote good or what??

I like it because it blows holes in the old "opposites attract" theory, which never felt right to me. I don't think they attract - they annoy. I so dislike crinkling my brow and squinting my eyes a bit while someone pointificates exactly the opposite position I have taken - or I am thinking, for that matter. I mean, I try to be polite and manipulate my expression to one of feigned listening rather than complete dismay at their stupidity.

I know, I am bad that way. I nod in polite agreement while calling them bad names in my head. My husband calls it judgementalism. I think he thinks I am bad in a lot of ways. His brow is full of crinkled lines.

He said all he wants for Christmas is a clean bedroom. I knew I shouldn't have asked if he wanted anything special. I'd rather go buy something for him. It would be so much easier.

We were talking around the Thanksgiving table about what we would like for Christmas. So many good people said with a settled contentment that they don't want anything this year. They have everything they need. They are grateful. Happy. Nothing needed under the ole tree.

Crinkled brow.

Well I want things! I told them all so. I want an iphone, a tivo, a new fancy remote control. (My list is on Amazon, by the way!) I'd take a couple dvds of old shows like, Here Comes the Brides and The Big Valley. I think I have my favorite colognes on there - and the upgrade for my Mac...

Everyone was staring at me with squinted eyes - so I threw in, World Peace (I do want that! I think it is after the iphone!)

And so we come to that fork, the diverengence of paths. When the yes, yes, yes suddenly turns to now-wait-a-minute-here. Crinkled brows and squinted eyes. And tears. Life is so big, so full. It's unsettling to find that one who we have journeyed with on a similar path went a different direction at the last fork in the road.

And then they are gone. And in our hearts we wish them well. And we will one day forget the pain and remember only the good, the laughter, the hopes and the dreams - and hope our paths will one day cross again.

It's a crazy life, isn't it? In the midst of the insanity - the diverging paths, the end of friendships, gas prices, parents dying, the hopelessly ongoing war, Larry Craig, the droning of political debates, dead cell phone batteries, the constant closing of businesses, diabetes, the loss of thousands of homes - all my husband truly wants is a clean bedroom!! Is that asking too much??

Oh, and I want an iphone!!!