MERRY CHRISTMAS 2023

Okay, let’s get this sad part of Christmas over with right away—actual Christmas, December 25, is the heartbreaking (for me) twelve-year anniversary of my mother’s death. So Mr. X and I have not been into the holiday much since then, and therefore, we’ve stopped doing decorations and gifts, both for us and for everybody else.

But, even though we’ve done even less for the occasion than we have since that horrible Christmas day a dozen years ago, I actually do think it’s been a little less painful for us this year. (I hope that knowledge helps all of you who may be earlier on in your own grieving process.)

I think that our real lack of celebrating this year is due a bit more to other factors–laziness, having to still deal with business activities, and just plain old being tired from lack of sleep, as opposed to because of the depression of losing my mother on the exact date.

But, despite not having our abode be as decorated and full of fun as it was for the many years before that awful fateful day, we have been having enough good times this year. And, best of all, we’ve been doing it all with just each other, which is a rarity. Since Mr. X has never loved going out, I’ve usually gone to most every event with my friends. Or he and I have hosted groups in our home. But it’s rare to go out as just the two of us.

So what fun it’s been that, other than one private holiday party that a friend took me to as her guest a couple of week-ends ago, Mr. X has been doing everything else with me this season! Trust me—that’s a major gift unto itself! The last time he came out with me this many times in one month was over two decades ago; it was a week we remember because he accompanied me to events four nights in a row!!! It was unbelievable! I knew what it felt like to be a normal couple for those few evenings. I loved it, but I’m actually grateful that he’s not into the same often-not-fabulous events that I am because I love getting to see my good buddies so much. As Bette Midler so smartly sang, “You gotta have friends…”

That all brings me to recommending our favorite holiday events to my SoCal peeps, to make your season brighter. And they’re all fun with the fam, with your friends or significant other, or even alone!

The absolute one event you must see this holiday season, as in all the past years, is the wonderful musical (or sorts) Love Actually Live at the Wallis in Beverly Hills. (You can read my full review right here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-love-actually-live-2023.)

In second place is the jaw-dropping and hilarious Santa’s Circus at the Montalban in Hollywood. (Here’s my review: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/live-production-santas-circus.)

And close behind those two is the super-fun A Christmas Story, The Musical at the Ahmanson in downtown LA. (And here’s my review for this one: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-a-christmas-story-the-musical.) You have until near the end of the year for all three.

Our other main activity, (outside of our obsessive sports-watching, mainly football this year,) is watching the (mostly) goony Hallmark holiday movies. Believe me—I never would have thought of this myself! Mr. X came up with it in 2017, I believe to distract me from my sadness about my mother. In many cases, we practically force ourselves to watch them, (because I love that he created the tradition,) and then we rate them. I’ve noticed that this 2023 crop is not as good as many of the offerings from previous years, but we still have one more week to find some goony gold.

And on Christmas Day, we will once again be joining our great friends, Fred Deni and Jim Crystal, for Christmas dinner. I credit them with helping me get over the initial holiday hump, that very next Xmas after losing my little mo, by inviting us to dinner and making their event classy and low-key as opposed to overly festive. I look forward to their very generous hospitality every year.

I don’t really know what else is in store for us this Christmas Eve week-end and the ensuing few days. But I can tell you what I’m not going to be doing. And that’s writing! I need a few days off. (But no worries—there will not be any missing articles here on INAM—I’ve planned ahead. So please join me back here on British Boxing Day.)

But if you are so inclined, there is one tiny, doable gift I’d love to receive from all of you, and you don’t even have to leave the very device you’re reading this on to do it! My wish is for you guys to follow me on any and all of my social platforms, (if you don’t already.) And I hope it will be a gift for you, as well, because now you won’t have to go looking for my new columns—they’ll all come right to you! How’s that for a win-win, which we can all use right about now?

Here’s all the info you need to follow me:

X, the former Twitter: @MajorCelebrity
Facebook Fan Page: It’s Not About Me TV
Instagram: majorcelebrity
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCF7mwI2jwcB2xB9dBCBxLZg

And, if nothing else, please remember to “bookmark” or “favorite” this e-zine. I can’t tell you how many people ask if I can send them the link to my several-times-weekly columns! When I reply that they should just put the site into their list of bookmarks on their browser, many don’t even know how to do it! (On their computers; it’s done differently on phones. So you’ll have to figure that out for yourselves.)

But the most important thing for me to do today is to wish all of you a super Merry Christmas, along with hopes for everybody’s safety and peace.