the realities of holidays in the sky

The holidays are a time of joy, a time of celebrating family and friends, and a time to remember all that life has given you. The song that says "have a holly jolly Christmas, it's the best time of the year" isn't much of an exaggeration. For me, as soon as the Christmas season wisps it's magic into the air it is this time of complete and utter contentment that seaps into the earths core. This magic, it's like a dust and a snowstorm all at once, it just depends on where you are in life...or in the world as it has been made aware to me lately.

I've had years that this beautiful season is like a dust--it's this layer on the top of the everyday--where it's subtle, a whisper of something, but there is so much underneath that the dust isn't enough to enthrall you fully into it's magic time. Then you have the years where if you are a snowman it's your dream land--there is so much snow that you get days to have a snowball fight, that you enjoy the feeling of being bundled in mittens, a cozy hat, a jacket, all wrapped up to still feel its nip at your nose and you even get the days to enjoy hot cocoa by the fire, with nothing but white fluff in sight out your window.

Years as a flight attendant I've had this back and forth of dustings, snow storms and the sludgy slurpee like in between. Most days I walk through airports full of christmas lights, music, people singing, declaring it's the holidays as I carry people in a metal tube across the world to see loved ones to carry out long lived traditions and special gatherings. At the end of the day I go to my long awaited hotel, immediately welcoming me with holiday spice and evergreen pine, decorated in full holiday bliss, and every employee decked with holly. Then, I wake up and do it again--this time, one more cup of coffee out of a red holiday cup.

Last year, I spent Christmas on a plane ridden with delay after delay, people that were antsy and ready to be with loved ones and a very tired crew that got stuck in Redmond Oregon where zilch was open and zip to do. I spent that night with a bottle of wine and "White Christmas". This year, I will be in a new home, my dog Auggie by my side and a day of trip preparation; catering, laundry, packing, cooking, repacking all to leave the day after Christmas for 2 1/2 weeks at a cute little three am wake up. This year I get Christmas at a home I've had for 3 months, without any family ( other than my sweet Auggie May), while prepping for a 2 1/2 week trip--and in case you were wondering, this included having to brave LA holiday hustle and bustle to track down my catering needs, which collectively took four hours thanks to lines, shopping car bumper cars and LA traffic being worse than it's normal demeanor.

Every Christmas as a flight attendant is like a snowflake--each one that falls is a little different, but they all add to the dusting or complete covering of snow that season. And even though these past two Christmases haven't been what I've ever thought a Christmas would look like, they are a part of who I am, this interesting path that I've been walking along the past two years. Each day of this time of year I get to see peoples excitement bubbling over from their head to their toes to see family --or see them drink champagne until they can even begin to accept that they are on their way to see their family. Each day is full of new weather delays, interesting sightings of Santa Clause's, presents of all sizes being carried on and given to me to deal with and the hustle and bustle of all types of families and individuals.

My favorite kind of person in these seasons are two types of people; Number one, is the single traveler, purely because I can completely 100% relate to them. They are usually on their way to see family, some are excited, some can't order enough tequila to help soothe the fact they're about to have days on end of family bonding. But nonetheless, they are all there, on a plane to see loved ones because at then end of the day, that is home, whether they know it now or in ten years looking back; Number two, kids. Kids at Christmas time can make the worst of days seem like a day in Candy Cane Lane on Christmas Eve. The excitement and joy in their eyes is enough to make anyone believe in Santa Clause and to make anyone believe that anything bad could come at Christmas time.

These Christmas's away from home, that require me to do catering shopping on Christmas Eve, that have me waking up at two am for a four thirty show time, that have me serving other families at forty thousand feet while mine is at home, cozy with the pups by the fire watching Santa Clause. These Christmas's will be the ones that in ten years when I get to be with my family and my pup sleeping by the fire, watching Santa Clause--these will be the ones that will make the ones with my family so much more than ordinary. All the catering, holiday traffic, nights by myself, the ones where the holidays come and go so easily, yet so loudly, none of that will be comparable to getting a holiday at home.

So, no matter where you are, what you're doing or who you are or aren't with, I hope you have yourself a happy little Christmas.