Message from the Ghost of Christmas Gifts

Christmas (or holidays if you prefer) has been driven more towards tablets and cell phones rather than the the holiday dinner. We have made a sport on that big sale on a TV rather than taking time to make a ginger-bread house with the kids. What's worse, a family would rather just buy a bunch of useless shit for the kids rather than save up money for a classic Christmas cabin away from ads and facebook.

I admit, being a shopaholic, it's a thrill to go to the mall with my war make-up on. But I was thinking that sometimes the gifts just remain useless and stuffed in a cob-webbed corner of a closet. Also, these gifts aren't even unique or thoughtful. Majority of my presents are damn gift cards!!! How is my present different from anyone else's or shows my true gratefulness of the person?

My Christmas past did involve presents, but after some thought, I realize I just had a handful that I still use. A leather jacket from grandma, a book of poems from my mom, and some hooker boots also from my mom (even at the age of 14, heels were a passion). But I don't remember Christmas by the presents, rather by the unique moments before and after. The Christmas moment I long for all year is the mass. I don't really go to church, but it's always been this necessity for me to go on that day. I think because the sin inside me is burning my leather jacket off. Either way, it's a simple piece of Christmas that does not require a trip to the mall.

So what I'm saying is the Dr. Seuss was right in the Christmas story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Christmas should not be made of gifts or how much you spend on a person. It should be about the moments we share and will cherish.