HAPPY HANUKKAH 2022

I guess people are raring to get out these days because, after no one I know threw any Hannukah fetes for even a few years before the pandemic, I actually have been invited to multiple latke parties this year!

Hanukkah parties–yay!

And believe me, I’m happy to attend. I love paying tribute to my heritage!

I have a feeling that most people who have known me through the years think of me as more of a Christmas celebrator, which is sort-of true. I love the music and primary colors associated with that holiday. And I also cherish the excitement of getting a bunch of presents all at once.

But I actually have always been into Hannukah, too, (the eight days of which begin this Sunday evening, in case you weren’t aware.) Being Jewish, I never even had a real Christmas until I was twenty!

[Note: But, when I was very young, like five or six, my very kind and fun mother did have us put stockings up on our fake fireplace in the basement, and she filled them with all kinds of little gifts; I’m just not sure if that happened exactly on December 25th, or just sometime around that date. And you’ll never guess what my absolute favorite gift was back then! (And actually, second all-time—to the credit card Mr. X gave me for one of our early Christmases. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!) Okay, that treasured childhood gift was…paint cards! From the hardware store. I’m still nuts over them! Go figure.]

I had come out to LA on my own, as a teenager, and though I did make a lot of friends in the almost six months I had been out here when my holiday rolled around, few of my pals were Jewish, so, for the first time in my life, I had nobody to celebrate the Festival of Lights with! I actually had only one friend of my ethnic persuasion, who still lived at home, but her parents were the first not nice grown-ups I had ever met, and they wouldn’t let her invite me over for the holiday, (which still chaps my hide to this late day.)

So I started having Christmas instead of Channukah that year. And then I moved to Providence, Rhode Island for my final college, and, trust me, Jewish people in that city are few and far between. I could never even find a knish there!!!

Both my boyfriend back then and Mr. X are not Jewish, so I just sort-of forgot about Channukah for awhile.

And then, many years later, my parents came out to visit us during the holidays. So, to basically make my father feel at home, I bought my first menorah and we did it up right. Mr. X chose the cutest and most thoughtful gifts for them, and we celebrated all eight nights. And my joy of that festive holiday returned.

We did Hannukah with them again the next year, and I’ve kept it going ever since. Catholic Mr. X even joins me for the candle lighting, and dons a yarmelke, to boot!!! I still can’t believe that. We even used to put a tiny one on Clarence, the Singing Dog, to complete the family circle. (And, yes, he did sing along with me doing the blessing!)

Now I have two menorahs—the first is a set of sports balls and the newer one is a…crayons box!!! I love them both. [Note: For those of you non-Jews reading this, who are aghast at what seems a tad sacrilegious, I thought the same about fun ones like that back in the day, too. But it turns out that, because Hannukah is in honor of such a happy event, menorahs are supposed to fun and whimsical, as well. You can still have a classy one, but it’s far from necessary.]

So, now I have a decision to make this year. One of the parties a friend is bringing me to for the occasion features all the guests putting our menorahs together to make a giant candlelit spectacle! So, with which one do I go? Sports balls or crayons? I’m so torn! Or maybe, just get a new one to break in at the soiree!

And no worries about Mr. X being home alone on those party nights—as you know, he hates going out, and I’ll be staying in with him for the rest of the Hannukah evenings; I already have latkes at the ready! Frozen ones, of course. I’ll be lighting candles on those nights, not the stove!

And I wish a very Happy Hannukah to all who celebrate!