Christmas is the same every year

This year I am under no illusion. Christmas has been the same evey year and it won't change now, I put in a lot of effort and yet sadly nobody else seems interested. So why am I still participating? Well I love Christmas and I am hoping that somebody this year will surprise me and make this Christmas something special. All someone has to do is buy me a purple scarf and it would be spectacular.
Every year I write down a list of people who I need to buy presents for, with a little list of ideas which I have for them. For example I know my friend Margaret likes clothes from the 60's, so this year I am attempting to find her a 60's style dress.
I start shopping around now (29th November) and I trail myself round all the shops to find "the perfect gift" for all my friends and relatives. I put a lot of effort into finding presents for everyone. I wrap them up really nicely too as I feel it gives the magical touch. Anyway you are getting the picture, I try to make other people's presents special and actually buy things that mean something. I think that Christmas is all about letting people know you are thinking about them and buying people presents which are meaningful shows you are thinking about them (in my humble opinion).
However the only thing all my friends are interested in is getting drunk. They all buy their presents on Christmas Eve and it is usually only the bubble bath and chocolate which is left after everyone else has finished shopping. Now I know that Christmas is not about getting presents, or in fact giving presents, but I don't think it is about getting drunk and giving your friends bubble bath.
The thing is I can't just stop doing what I do at Christmas because I wouldn't like people to feel like I am not thinking about them. So I am giving them all one last year, see if they can think about anyone but themselves and if they can't well I guess I am going to have to buy them all the worst presents I can find. The thing is I would still be thinking fairly hard about it! Well if you can't beat them, join them.

It was 1997, the same Christmas as the year before, buying presents and visiting relatives. I had been doing rather well in wrestling for a sophomore in high school. Christmas Eve came and went. Morning came, and we were up at 7:00am (my parents were strict about not starting too early) and ready to start opening. And so the usual procedure of distributing gifts went on. at about 8:30 or maybe 9:00, the phone rang, and my mother answered. She spoke briefly with my father, and we had breakfast, as we always do: eggs, coffee cake, sausage, orenge juice. After breakfast was mostly over, my mother told us "Your grandmother died last night. Uncle Casey and Uncle Jon went to pick her up for midnight mass and found her. She must have fallen asleep in her chair watching television, and passed away."

Just a reminder that not every Christmas is the same. Happy Holidays