“On Marino’s Mind” - Dec. 1997
Before the holiday travels and turkey, and before (even more) sale emails inundate your inbox, I'm dropping in early to say thank you. Thank you for being a part of this community. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and kind words about JMT Speaks.
To show my appreciation, I'd like to give you a little laugh to start your week, courtesy of the earliest iteration of my blog: my old high school newspaper column, "On Marino's Mind." It seems like my sentiments back in the December 1997 issue are spot on for the present day -- and I think you'll enjoy the fact that my "voice" is very much the same. So, here are three excerpts from my December 1997 column:
"After Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas, I begin to feel as stuffed as the turkey. And why is it that dinner table discussions tend to turn into heated political debates? The holidays are the time of year when I don't want to worry about Bill Clinton's political problems. That's why I think that holidays bring about additional stress and anxiety that are totally unnecessary." [Present Day Note: Yep, this is still spot on. I grow tired of all the fancy meals, plus, you can swap in one political climate for another and this tracks!]
"What about parties? For example, the semi-formal in December just passed. I like to shop, but trudging from store to store for four hours in search of a dress can get to a girl. And to all the other girls out there: is it just me, or is it harder to find the shoes and accessories to match the dress than the dress itself? I think the more significant the object is (for example, a hair clip) the harder it is to find." [Present Day Note: Reading this again was a bit like the twilight zone. For 27 years, I've apparently fussed over the accessories more than the outfit. My holiday attire circles around finding the right headband, earrings, bag, or (lymphedema-friendly) shoes, not the dress itself.]
"So that's my view of the holidays. They are great times because I get to see the people I don't see that much during the year, go to Christmas mass, and get excited about it all." [Present Day Note: Absolutely! These are great times and I get to celebrate with family and friends, and attend Christmas mass, all while watching the holidays through my son's eyes. What could be better?]
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