Oh, I'm still happier than average living in the afterglow of the US elections last month. All the liberal tears and whiny protests, recounts and adulation of diaper pins truly warmed my heart, opened a floodgate of hilarious memes, and in general bolstered mood with the feeling of Christmas coming early for once...but now some weeks later 'real' Christmas is very near and it has brought the hard time blues with it.
More personal info for my 10+ readers. I live and work as an English teacher in the United Arab Emirates. I'm now 1/3 through my 7th year--don't know when I broke the mirror in 2010, but nevertheless here I am. One year prior to this I had the same job with less pay out in Taiwan. Yes, I managed to avoid--save for vacation time--the entirety of the Obama Error. Well, neither of these nations REALLY celebrate Christmas. I'm just lucky that our end of trimester 1 break happens to fall at Christmas time. This causes me to miss a lot of the celebrations that I love back at home--the two weeks we get for break time just can't justify the cost--physically and financially--involved in making the trip out. I've been able to visit Belgium, Romania, Germany, France and the Philippines during these winter breaks--some being closer to Christmases like the ones I used to know than others, and all being fun in their own ways, but as the song says, there's no place like home for the holidays. ...and now I'll never be able to go back there.
I can--and most likely will--physically return to the U.S. and to my home state of Georgia eventually. Hopefully, I'll be there for many Christmas seasons to come, but it will never be the same. You see my Dad passed away back on December 12, 2010. Because I didn't get to visit during my year in Taiwan, this will be my eighth Christmas without him. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade now...and this time of year still hasn't gotten any easier. My Mom is still alive and in good health living in and taking care of the house that my wife and I are buying, but it seems that I can't get out there at Christmas time to see her no matter how much I plan. This year there's been another bump in the road...and right at the same time of year no less.
This past summer, my wife--who has always had thyroid trouble--was fortunate enough to catch a cancerous growth during one of her routine check-ups. Long story short, she had to have a complete thyroidectomy. The operation was a success, but the standard follow-up is for the patient to take a radioactive isotope to wipe out any of the cells that may have been missed. We went through a series of planning/appointments/lab tests/diets over the past couple of months meandering along until--who could have guessed--December 12th. On that day--four days from now as I'm writing--she will swallow this isotope and for all intents be emitting radiation for about three weeks. That means no Christmas with the wife--and it means having yet another staycation in the non-Christmas celebrating UAE. :(
So, as we enter our last weekend together before she goes nuclear, the wife and I will have a lot of arrangements to make when it comes to my daughter. Yes, it will be three weeks wherein DaDa has to be the primary caregiver for his 2-year old. I'm sure it's going to be wild as I am the very definition of the stereotypical bumbling father. I hope she has a good Christmastime with me even if her mother and her grandma can't. It also--maybe for the first time--dawns on me that I'm the Dad now. My wife and I will be making memories for the little girl, and one day she'll be missing me the way that I miss my own Dad.
So, for my 10+ readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I know that it's a cliche, but be sure to tell the ones you love that you do love them while they're here. Once they're gone it'll be a long time before you get the chance to do so again. <3
More personal info for my 10+ readers. I live and work as an English teacher in the United Arab Emirates. I'm now 1/3 through my 7th year--don't know when I broke the mirror in 2010, but nevertheless here I am. One year prior to this I had the same job with less pay out in Taiwan. Yes, I managed to avoid--save for vacation time--the entirety of the Obama Error. Well, neither of these nations REALLY celebrate Christmas. I'm just lucky that our end of trimester 1 break happens to fall at Christmas time. This causes me to miss a lot of the celebrations that I love back at home--the two weeks we get for break time just can't justify the cost--physically and financially--involved in making the trip out. I've been able to visit Belgium, Romania, Germany, France and the Philippines during these winter breaks--some being closer to Christmases like the ones I used to know than others, and all being fun in their own ways, but as the song says, there's no place like home for the holidays. ...and now I'll never be able to go back there.
I can--and most likely will--physically return to the U.S. and to my home state of Georgia eventually. Hopefully, I'll be there for many Christmas seasons to come, but it will never be the same. You see my Dad passed away back on December 12, 2010. Because I didn't get to visit during my year in Taiwan, this will be my eighth Christmas without him. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade now...and this time of year still hasn't gotten any easier. My Mom is still alive and in good health living in and taking care of the house that my wife and I are buying, but it seems that I can't get out there at Christmas time to see her no matter how much I plan. This year there's been another bump in the road...and right at the same time of year no less.
This past summer, my wife--who has always had thyroid trouble--was fortunate enough to catch a cancerous growth during one of her routine check-ups. Long story short, she had to have a complete thyroidectomy. The operation was a success, but the standard follow-up is for the patient to take a radioactive isotope to wipe out any of the cells that may have been missed. We went through a series of planning/appointments/lab tests/diets over the past couple of months meandering along until--who could have guessed--December 12th. On that day--four days from now as I'm writing--she will swallow this isotope and for all intents be emitting radiation for about three weeks. That means no Christmas with the wife--and it means having yet another staycation in the non-Christmas celebrating UAE. :(
So, as we enter our last weekend together before she goes nuclear, the wife and I will have a lot of arrangements to make when it comes to my daughter. Yes, it will be three weeks wherein DaDa has to be the primary caregiver for his 2-year old. I'm sure it's going to be wild as I am the very definition of the stereotypical bumbling father. I hope she has a good Christmastime with me even if her mother and her grandma can't. It also--maybe for the first time--dawns on me that I'm the Dad now. My wife and I will be making memories for the little girl, and one day she'll be missing me the way that I miss my own Dad.
So, for my 10+ readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I know that it's a cliche, but be sure to tell the ones you love that you do love them while they're here. Once they're gone it'll be a long time before you get the chance to do so again. <3
