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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Sweet, bittersweet

Sweet, bittersweet

Published Dec 20, 2022 12:05 am

MEDIUM RARE

Jullie Y. Daza

In the olden golden days the expectation was for Christmas to cast its spell, a spell being an action that alters the dimensions of time-space-matter. Christmas, it is said, is the day that holds time together.

The ghosts of Christmases past linger, touching the present with memories that squeeze the heart and pinch the spirit, but always there will be sweeter and bittersweet ones to remember. The best Christmases were what happened in your childhood.

During that innocent period, as far as can be recalled, life was as simple as a five-pointed star hanging by the window and a gaily decorated tree standing in the center of the living room. The sound of Christmas was the music of carols echoing from the radio, but it was better if carolers came calling, in person, to sing. Best of all, it was your own glee club performing for your teachers, neighbors, aunties and uncles. (The glee club in our junior and senior years in college stood out for its unbelievably outstanding repertoire of three Christmas melodies and two love songs. As the conductor, Jose Burgos Jr. of cherished memory put it, better to sing five songs well than a dozen poorly.)

In school, the loveliest of all seasons ended with parties held on the last day before the Christmas break, with classmates exchanging gifts, i.e., Christmas cards. As the inimitable Rico J. Puno ad libbed in one of his hit songs, and speaking for the budget-conscious for all time, a Christmas card is okay if it’s what lovers can afford. What has happened to the beloved ritual of sending and receiving Christmas cards?

The post office has gone out of fashion, if not existence. Christmas greetings by text or email are fine, although the printed messages come out cold, like the cyberspace in which they thrive. Hallmark cards are no longer as popular as their TV movies about romance in the embrace of winter’s snow. The last time I received a Christmas card, it arrived in the middle of May, before the pandemic upended the way we live.

In the age of Covid, life’s about adjusting, adapting, catching up. To my friend’s question, “How r u doing?” I replied, “Busy doing the most unremarkable stuff.”

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