Visitors and visits

Merry Christmas! How was your celebration? Did you do anything special on the 25th. I spent my time with my family catching up with each other and getting updates on how our lives has been going. I ate a lot too and I was mostly happy all day. Like I mentioned in my previous article, Christmas is my favourite holiday and I just feel happier during the season.

The day after Christmas is quite deceptive. It's the day that promises to be stress free since the main celebration is done. What one may not realise is that a lot of people stay home with their families during Christmas and then visit other people after Christmas. The few visitors one had on Christmas day would be nothing compared to the ones who'll show up after Christmas.

The visits are mostly brief because they would like to visit other people too but as a tradition, they must be offered food and drinks. Some people will decline the good because they might have eaten at the first place they visited so, hosts tend to also have some snacks to offer. The snacks could be eaten there or taken home by the visitors.

Some visitors call ahead to inform the hosts of their arrival, some wait till they're about to leave/or on the way before calling while some close relatives may not even call at all. This makes it hard to plan ahead, so the ultimate plan is usually to cook more than needed and if any is left at the end of the day, they will be refrigerated.

While my parents have been hosts to a lot of guests during Christmas, they have also visited a lot of people. One of such visits I really enjoyed was the visit to my uncle's house. I was a lot younger then, still in primary school. My uncle had just gotten married that same year. On getting there, the house was filled with other relatives, some of whom I didn't know at the time.

My uncle's wife was very friendly and I some other kids joined her in the kitchen. I still remember her standing over the counter, kneading dough and listening to our childish stories. She was making snacks for us to take home while asking us questions about school and our friends. It felt so nice to have an adult who entertained our enthusiasm and seemed to show genuine interest in our lives. I was a quiet kid but even I competed to tell my story and listen to her comments. She would praise us when we talked about something we did that was good and if it wasn't good, she would tell us how to go about it next time. It was refreshing to receive advice that didn't come with complaints or yelling. We felt like it was OK to make mistakes as long as we learnt from it. We helped her cut the dough into a shape of our choosing, and she let us have them when they were ready. I felt so proud holding my snack in my hands and telling everyone I had made it myself haha.

That visit made me feel seen and heard, and I realised that being around family was quite nice. I don't remember some of the kids I met then, but that day, they felt like my community; a bunch of wide-eyed kids gathering around a willing adult, trying to fill out curious minds with as much as it could take and also eager to share our stories without fear of judgement.

It has been so many years since the kitchen discussion but till now, whenever I see my aunt, I still feel the warmth radiating from her. I feel like I can tell her anything without judgement. It's probably why she is such a good nurse.

Do you visit people on Christmas day, after or never?

To everyone who is facing any form of crisis during this period especially those who were struck by the typhoon Odette in the Philippines, I pray for the courage you need to face this and the strength to keep going on. I believe things will only get better from here 🙏