The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 9, 1984 Page: 93 of 119
one hundred nineteen pages : ill. ; page 18 x 12 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
■
HARRIET VAN HORNE'S MONTHLY COLUMN
■ ON LIVING TODAY
DECK THE HALLS,
BUT SKIP THE
i TINSEL
4.
14
w
ell, it’s peace-on-earth
time again. Love thy
neighbor, abuse thy
credit card, drop a pen-
ny in an old man s hat, and pray your
Christmas cold will come late this year.
As a traditionalist, 1 love Christmas.
The glittering tree, the turkey, the pop-
ping chestnuts, "Silent Night," the lum-
py presents made by loving little hands
And sometimes it’s true. Most of us have
known holidays of pure bliss when
every sprig of mistletoe meant hugs and
kisses, and every present was the right
color and size.
But those of us blessed with family,
friends and a bit of cash tend to forget
how hard the holidays can be for lone-
ly people. The compulsory nature of our
revels underlines the pain of solitude.
Itts hard to be gallant-
ly lonely when the rest
of the world seems to
be totally immersed in
gift wrapping and
revelry.
A few years ago two
British psychologists
studied the effects of
Christmas on several
hundred households.
They discovered "out-
breaks of hives, over-
eating, crying jags, and
plain orneriness." Sore
throats and family
quarrels increased. Older people became
depressed and sick. The psychologists
dubbed these phenomena the “Dickens
in a
3
O
I Will they love you any Syndrome
levs if Will /inn’t hnhe Muggings increase during the Christ-
Ieaa *' T"11 uun i' utu/e mas season police records show. Shop-
50 dozen cookies? lifters take home an estimated $1
million of loot during the blessed Yule-
tide. Highway accidents increase, as do
barroom brawls.
At holiday time our status is painful-
ly defined for us. Either we are invited
to sing carols and join feasts, or we sit
at home with our seven Christmas cards
and a bottle of “cheer” from a pitying
chum at the office.
i
1
-
in the second grade. We all nfeed the
love and kindness that light up the wan-
ing days of December, but every year
the nagging question comes: Has Christ-
mas, with all its gaudy baubles and
raucous office parties, become too big,
too taxing?
This celebrant reluctantly has to say
yes. There’s too much revelry, too much
extravagance. Christmas imposes duties,
exacts tributes — and sometimes, after
the eggnog and the carols, hurts like an
old wound in the night.
What Christmas needs is a sense of
proportion. This needn’t stifle the need
to make Christmas beautiful for loved
ones. But will they love you any less if
you don’t bake 50 dozen cookies? Is
shopping from the Christmas catalogs
instead of in crowded shopping malls so
sinful? This is the moment to take a nip
of the cooking sherry and ask: “Is this
fruitcake really necessary?"
Remember, this holiday was once cel-
ebrated beautifully with religious ser-
vices and a festive family meal.
For as long as 1 can remember, the
myth has persisted that most people are
wildly, wonderfully happy at Christmas.
In the Christmas season the encounter
group, the singles bar, the exercise class,
or the cooking lessons don’t ward off the
loneliness. There is a deep, sad ache for
close human contact. The frenzied cele-
brations of those around us inevitably
worsen the ache.
If the lavish, compulsive aspects of
our Christmas continue to flourish, one
wonders where it all will end. Today we
send 4 billion Christmas cards. But 150
years ago Dec. 25 was just another day.
In New England the law decreed that
anybody found feasting frivolously or
celebrating this sacred day would be
fined five shillings.
It would be sad to return to that sort
of austerity. But the question is still valid
and urgent: Have we let Christmas get
out of hand? IW
1
Order Now to Ensure Delivery for
Pr»r»T Ctearty
*3**3
Mail to Ketco Inc.. P O Box 436 New Hartford
I
Send me_School Desk I* st at St 4 95 pi
O ansi ’ee® ■ ^oce Str e»t
Business Desk i« si at S24 36 okjs S2 50 oost
a ‘Tam S2'r 4S.
Name
Address
City
State
Charge to [__ Master Card
Account No (an digits*_
Signature
iisa
Harriet Van Home is an essayist who writes on
a variety of topics.
Exo*adon Date
Family Weekly • December 9 • 1984 9
-J
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 9, 1984, newspaper, December 9, 1984; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1153277/m1/93/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.