"The Other Face of the Holidays"

Christmas is my favorite holiday; it’s a day of rest and pleasure, a day to get acquainted with each other and a day to recall old memories even though there seems to be so much to do at Christmas. There are presents to buy and wrap, family to visit, and the tamales to cook. This year the holidays were not as good as I expected. Two things that disappointed me during the holidays were that two of my paychecks flew by without keeping a dollar for myself and that a person I don’t like showed up to my house on New Year’s Eve.

For seventeen years I have seen Christmas as the day in which I would receive many presents and stuff my self with many tamales that my mom would make for this special occasion. This year it was different, I had a job and as well as the rest of my family I had to buy presents to give away. I worked hard for two weeks without getting a single dollar from my paycheck for myself. I was too busy buying presents for my family and friends. It was painful knowing it was Friday, “pay day”, and not being able to enjoy it on me. That’s when I figured out that often buying presents can leave the biggest hole in our bank balance.

After my crisis of the Christmas presents I thought that maybe New Year’s Eve was going to be a different story. I thought it was going to be pleasant and peaceful, but I was wrong. My problem now was not the money but a person. That night my male cousin decided to bring a friend who I tend not to like so much. As I was enjoying dinner with my family and friends I saw the person I dislike walk through the door. She glanced at me and pretended like she didn’t notice that I was there. When the music began I took my cousin out to dance with me and she got mad. When the clock struck 12:00 we all hugged and welcomed the New Year. At 12:30a.m. she left and that’s when my day got better.

The holidays can leave us with good and bad memories, but it’s up to us if we let that bring our spirit down. Only because this past Christmas and New Year’s Eve was not as good as others, I’m not going to let this experience ruin the rest of them to come. I just hope that next year I get better and more pleasant people to visit me.