Yes, I know. It doesn’t make any sense. Think about your first Christmas as a newly married couple or a single adult, on your own. How many ornaments did you have? We had none. I went to some craft shop and bought what we could afford, some stupid wooden cut-out ornaments that needed to be painted. They came in a package of 64. Out of sympathy my mom-in-law and sis-in-law sat down and painted ornaments with me. They were not terribly attractive, but they filled in our first tree.
I had visions of buying a lovely angel or star tree-topper. Unfortunately that was not to happen. Dan and I found ourselves at some drug store at Point Loomis prior to Christmas. At the checkout they had a box of “Gumby Santas”, skinny, bendy Santas. Dan needed one for the tree top. He was taken with Gumby Santa. It cost 99 cents. Dan bought it as a lark and it pissed me off.
And every year since that first Christmas Gumby Santa has embodied some “event” of the year. For 2010 he’s running to represent Dan’s first marathon. He’s graduated several times, painted a house, been to Disney on the Space Mountain ride, played the bass, starred in movies, participated in triathlons, played roller hockey as a goalie, played soccer as a first grader, been cast in school plays and basically reflected major activities in all of our lives for the last 33 years.
Gumby Santa is like an angel or a star, but he's so much better. Gumby Santa has been flexible, adapting to change and accomplishments throughout the years. I thought he’d fall apart or breakdown, but he hasn’t. He’s shown up every Christmas, ready to participate and represent the Johnsons and our rich life together.
And he will survive a move, when we move, and be ready to represent any new accomplishments and activities in a way no star or angel ever could.
Music that resonates:
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