It’s going on May but I’m still sort of fondly thinking about the holidays.
What was once my least favorite time of year now makes my heart glow.
When I was a kid, I was raised by a single mom along with three sisters. We lived in a decent home with central air conditioning and whatever we needed. My parents divorced when I was young and my dad paid a ton of alimony so he could get on with the life he wanted to lead. That sort of left me as the man of the house since I was the only guy and the oldest. But that also meant that I was the one who had to do all my mother’s holiday bidding while she cranked the gas furnace to sauna like levels. It was the sort of experience that I dreaded every year. So once I got married, I just hated the holidays. My wife, and subsequently my daughters, changed all of that for me. They brought back the magic that is in the holidays. One thing they love to do is to collect holiday candles throughout the year and then light up the house for the better part of 6 weeks during the holiday season. I learned the hard way that before any candle gets lit inside the central air conditioning of our home, I need to slide my the hardware store. I pick up a case of air filter for that time of year. All that burnt candle wax ends up getting sucked right to the HVAC return and onto the air filter. I literally have to change the air filter almost weekly.