Last Christmas

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

That has got to be one of my least favorite Christmas songs. Not that the Wham song is too saccharine or annoying, it’s more of a case of it not really going anywhere beyond the first four lines. But I did want to talk about last Christmas (actually the last three) and how different things are going to be this year.

“Oh, here we go again, when’s he gonna get over it?” I used to get repulsed by UK TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, whose daughter Caron Keating followed in her shoes and was on the popular BBC children’s program “Blue Peter” for four years. Caron died of breast cancer in 2004 at age 42, and even nine years later, it’s rare that Hunniford appears on TV without mentioning her dead daughter or the foundation set up in her memory. When I lost Eileen in March this year, I started to understand Hunniford a little better, but still set a timer whenever I catch her on TV to see how long it’ll take for the words “Caron” or “foundation” to appear.

As for Christmas, I spent three of the most stress free Christmases from 2010 to 2012, simply because they were spent with three other adults like myself who had made it past middle age without having the burden of children and whose parents were either deceased or far away. There was no expectations of any lavish gifts, just the chance for us all to hang together in Hastings on the South Coast in a house with a fantastic view of the English Channel. Mostly we drank, ate, and watched videos, and during the day, weather permitting, we’d walk along the beach. For Eileen, it would be her last really strenuous exercise, for by then we knew last Christmas would be her Last Christmas.

This year, instead of good cheer, I’m giving it — no! (Distracted myself!) This year will be a bigger function but it’ll be at my house with a group of nine, where I’m the only one who’s not family of some sort. It’s nice to not be alone at Christmas, but I’m sure there will be times when I’ll WANT to be. At least the pressure of gift-giving is subverted by the fact that our gifts were determined by Secret Santa, so I was only required to buy one £10 gift for one attendee, and it turned out my recipient was one of my flat mates, so I had some VAGUE notion.

In the meantime, I’ll spend this afternoon listening to the Chart Countdown where the latest X Factor winner, 34-year-old Sam Bailey, will no doubt have the Christmas Number One with a cover of the annoying Demi Lovato song “Skyscraper,” before beginning her inevitable descent back to if not obscurity then perhaps the cruise ships where she made her living previously. Oh, but she DOES get to tour next year as Beyoncé’s opening act! There’s not much competition this year for Xmas #1, as there’s no big time Facebook campaign to fight Simon Cowell’s machine. One of the tunes predicted to “challenge” Bailey’s record is AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell.” Another is the electronically manipulated “duet” between Susan Boyle and, wait for it, Elvis Presley, on “O Come All Ye Faithful.” I suppose in certain lights, Boyle could resemble Elvis’s mom, though I doubt that’s why this duet was initiated. Neither one is expected to really do much beyond charting this week.

That aside, yes, I’ll be missing Eileen this Christmas, who could have given a rat’s ass about any of that chart stuff, OR X Factor. But I truly vow not to let her absence cloud what could still be a wonderful Holiday season. Even though I’m not in a serious relationship, which I discovered a few months ago that I really wasn’t ready for anyway, I can be glad that I’ll be surrounded by friends. I truly hope none of you will be alone this Christmas. Cheers to all!!

(Just to piss me off, “Last Christmas” is now playing as a chart re-entry, for the 7th CONSECUTIVE YEAR!!)

December 22nd, 2013



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