听
I knew this day was going to come eventually: I won鈥檛 spend Christmas with my parents.
I鈥檝e been very fortunate over the years to be with mom and dad for Christmas. In fact, from 2002-2017, we were together at Christmas every year, except for two.
The timing always worked out nicely. Christmas is notoriously quiet in the Estevan area, and pretty much everywhere else. Outside of a Bruins game and a few minor hockey games, we don鈥檛 have much to write about.
So if I鈥檓 going to escape for 10-14 days, Christmas is probably the best time to do it. Yes, the flights to B.C. were more expensive, and the airports were jammed with people, but it was a trade-off to see my family at Christmas, and take holidays during a downtime for stories.
Bonus: there was usually a nice green lawn to gaze at on Dec. 25. Yes, I dream of the green Christmas.
There aren鈥檛 many people who live so far away from their parents who were able to spend Christmas with them every year.
Last year I thought I was going to be away from my folks on Christmas Day. But my parents decided to come out to southeast Saskatchewan for a week. A severe cold warning was issued the day they arrived on Christmas Eve, and it was lifted the day they left a week later.
Mom was thrilled to be back here for Christmas for the first time in 22 years, and it was a great time, but after last year鈥檚 Arctic-like experience, I don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l be back out here on Christmas day for a while.
(We like to joke that they brought the cold weather with them, but when you consider they came from the Vancouver area, the statement would be fallacious).
Now, before you start feeling sorry for me this year, I should mention that my mom鈥檚 from the Weyburn area originally, and she still has lots of family out here, so I have people to visit with, and a great meal to go to, and a chance to escape Estevan for the first time in months.
But it will be weird being away from them on Christmas Day. It likely would have been weird to not be in B.C. for Christmas last year if they weren鈥檛 here.
That doesn鈥檛 mean I won鈥檛 enjoy Christmas this year. It鈥檚 going to be a fun Christmas on the farm near Fillmore. The temperatures will be cool, but not frighteningly cold like last year. There won鈥檛 be much snow on the ground. (Granted, in Saskatchewan, our snow-free Christmases are brown rather than green).
I鈥檒l open gifts with my grandmother on Christmas morning, and hit up some Boxing Day shopping in Estevan. (It鈥檚 much easier to shop on Boxing Day in Estevan than in Langley鈥檚 convoluted Willowbrook shopping area).听
I have a lot of sympathy for those who don鈥檛 have anyone to be with at Christmas time. For them, it鈥檚 a time marked with isolation. And it鈥檚 not like there鈥檚 lots to do, either.
The shops and the restaurants are closed. There aren鈥檛 many good movies on TV. The only sport to watch most years is basketball. And you know that while you鈥檙e on your own, everyone else is socializing and having a good time with people they love.
It鈥檚 not the most wonderful time of the year for everybody.
Hopefully I鈥檒l be able to get back to B.C. for Christmas at some point. It鈥檚 tough to get away with the crazy deadlines that weekly newspapers have at Christmas time. I know I can鈥檛 leave my teammates here in a lurch.
Perhaps my folks will make it out here for Christmas again at some point. That would be nice.
And hopefully it won鈥檛 be -30 C on Christmas Day the next time they鈥檙e here.
***
There鈥檚 one other thing I look forward to at Christmas time each year: the World Junior Hockey Championships which are, ironically, in Vancouver this year.
The World Juniors have become a staple on the calendar for seemingly every Canadian hockey fan ever since the infamous Punch-up at Piestany between Canada and the former Soviet Union in 1987.
And we have so many fond memories of this tournament, from John Slaney鈥檚 winning goal against the Soviet Union in Saskatoon in 1991, to Jordan Eberle鈥檚 tying goal with five seconds to play in a semifinal against the Russians in Ottawa in 2009, to Tyler Steenbergen鈥檚 winning goal late in the third against the Swedes in Rochester, N.Y., in last year鈥檚 gold medal game.
It鈥檚 a tournament in which the top young hockey players in the game have firmly established themselves as future stars; in which unknown players have become household names; and in which some have had fleeting moments of glory.
Despite the immense pressure we put on Team Canada, there鈥檚 that unique feel to the tournament that stems from young athletes sacrificing their Christmas break to play for their country, and not being paid.
And I can鈥檛 wait for it to start on Boxing Day.听
