WS Chronicle

By Judie Holcomb-Pack

In 2002 John Grisham, a best-selling author known for his fictional legal dramas, wrote a humorous book entitled “Skipping Christmas,” which was later made into the movie “Christmas with the Kranks.” The premise of the book and movie is that with their daughter joining the Peace Corps, the Kranks will be alone for Christmas for the first time in years and decide to “skip Christmas” and take a Caribbean cruise instead.

I’ve been thinking about this book lately as I attempt to make plans for the Christmas holiday. I know I sound like the Grinch, but maybe this year I’ll skip Christmas. It certainly makes sense since I am a widow, live alone, and my children live out of town. When I think of joining my and my children’s “bubbles,” I imagine a Venn diagram where the intersection of our bubbles glows red with the warning “Danger!” 

I reminisce about all the holiday traditions I’ve enjoyed since childhood. The start of the Christmas season for me always began with attending the Moravian Candle Tea in the Single Brothers House in Old Salem. This year I’ve marked that off my list.

Next would follow Tanglewood’s Festival of Lights, which is still happening, but you can’t leave your car, so there’s no roasting marshmallows, drinking hot chocolate and looking over the crafts for sale at the Barn. Strike two.

Then there’s the Jaycees annual Christmas Parade with all the school bands, cheerleaders, floats, and more that ushers in the holiday season. That ain’t happening.

I was beginning to feel lower than the rent on a burning building. The disappointments continued: No Nutcracker ballet by the UNC School of the Arts at the Stevens Center. Reynolda House’s “A Christmas Memory,” the one-woman play performed by Robin Voiers based on the Truman Capote short story, is another favorite I’ve marked off my list. In the past the N.C Black Rep’s “The Nativity According to the Gospels,” has been unmatched in its ability to fill me with holiday spirit. But not this year. 

And Christmas Eve Midnight Service, where we leave the church with lighted candles singing “Joy to the World,” marking the official beginning of Christmas Day. Not going to happen. This year I’ll be staring at all the faces in boxes on my computer screen during Zoom church.

It looked like instead of me skipping Christmas, Christmas was skipping me.

Then I started seeing notices of changes to the events I had marked off my list. Candle Tea was still happening, but as a drive-through around Salem Square with scenes representing Candle Tea along the route. There’s still a Christmas parade, but instead of watching on a cold sidewalk, you decorate your car and stay warm while you drive the route through town, with entertainment along the route. Theatre companies are having streaming events online, from holiday musicals to staged readings to filmed plays.

I may have to bring my own hot chocolate and Moravian ginger cookies while I watch online, but I can still participate in some of the traditions that make the holiday season special.

Skipping Christmas? I don’t think so. It may look different, feel different, even smell different, but with a little flexibility and imagination, the magic and hope that is Christmas can fill still our hearts. 

If the Grinch’s heart can grow three sizes, I guess mine can, too.

Judie Holcomb-Pack is The Chronicle’s associate editor and a member of Winston-Salem Writers.