This is Gem's husband, Simon. She's had a lot on recently, so I thought I'd give her a bit of a break by writing one of her Blogmas posts for her.
I want to start off my hijack of Gem's Blogmas posts by saying what a fantastic job she is doing with not just Blogmas, but
her whole blog and everything surrounding it. She puts so much work and effort
into it to make sure it's perfect and I'm so incredibly proud of her for it.
I'm proud for two reasons, firstly because she always puts out great content
and has gained so much from it and secondly (and perhaps mainly), because she
has followed her heart in doing what she wants to do and what she enjoys, rather
than what other people may or may not think she should do.
Right, enough of the soppy stuff, let the Christmas time blogging continue...
I love Christmas, it's my favourite
time of the year. From the smattering of fairy lights around the house, making our
home feel that little bit different and therefore special to the abundance of
Christmas TV specials and movies, to all the gorging on great foods, such as mince pies,
sausage rolls, chocolates and of course roast turkey. I actually look forward to heading to the high street at this time of year, Christmas just
makes everything seem better and magical somehow. I find as I'm getting older that I
care less about what I receive and just want to give more. I want to spoil Gem
to the degree that she deserves to be spoilt and I look forward to her
receiving her gifts.
We got together in 2008, so this will be our 7th Christmas together and what's funny is that I always go through the same emotions
regarding gifts before the day itself arrives. I buy gifts and feel so excited
to give them to her that I want to let her open one present there and then but,
of course, don't. A few days to a week will pass and I'll start to
worry that what I've got won't be good enough and will leave her feeling
disappointed, so I'll make sure I head back out shopping. I'll buy more gifts that I stumble across, but on that same trip, I'll
suddenly feel like I haven't got her anywhere near enough items from her list that I ask her to write for me and so I start to buy more from that. I'll then get
excited again about seeing her face as she rips off the wrapping paper and
sees what I have bought her. As it gets to within a week of the 25th, doubt will start creeping back in, so I wrap what I've bought and finally
feel satisfied as the big pile of decorated items grows higher. On
Christmas Eve I'll no doubt go back out to get just a few more things. The
thing is though, I needn't worry, because even if I stuck to the original gifts that I purchased and didn't go out and buy more, she would still be over the moon with what she
received. She is always grateful and the amount she gets to open on Christmas
morning is irrelevant. It doesn't stop me spending loads more on her though.
That's the visit from the ghost of
Christmas present out of the way. Which is all wrong because the ghost of
Christmas past always came first in 'A Christmas Carol', but sod it, I'm not
going back to edit things now. I
suffered a loss at Christmas time five years ago when my dad sadly died, but that
hasn't changed my opinion of this time of year like it does with others because
I have so many happy memories of him from this time of year in particular. We never had much growing up, but both my mom and dad would always make sure me
and my little sister had the best Christmas possible. We always felt amazed at
what Santa delivered into our chimney-less house by using his magic key to get
through the door. 'Why doesn't he just use the magic key for every house, rather
than bothering to climb up and down chimneys all night long?', I remember
querying one year. I would always be allowed to bring my television out of
my room (when I eventually got one), so that I could play my new video games in the
living room so as not to miss any of the festive fun. My first TV was a second
hand, black and white one! I still remember trying to play FIFA on it, but being unable
to tell which team I was. I feel very lucky to have had the childhood I did despite the lack of money, because I was deeply loved and I just have to
remember Christmases in Kingsclere Walk to remind myself of that.
The last Dickensian spirit-like musing
I will have is of course about the Christmases yet to come. Soon, Gem and I will
have children of our own and no, that is not a breaking news revelation, she is
not pregnant...yet. However, when we do have our own family, I am incredibly
excited to give them the Christmases I had and to teach them all about what
Christmas is to us. I realise that Christmas should be about religion, I did go to a
catholic school, but nowadays the meaning of Christmas is about
family for me. Looking to next Christmas, I hope to be able to look back and say
that a lot has changed since now. I'm hoping to follow in Gem's footsteps and
work doing what I love and want to do, rather than what I am currently employed
to do. This year has been a big set up for what should be
an incredible opportunity for me in 2015 and will hopefully lead to a better
life for both me and Gem. I hope that next Christmas I can take Gem back to
New York or even somewhere else, I hope I can give her the world over the
coming years as there isn't anybody who deserves it more.
Merry Christmas!!!!
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