I feel you Christmas. I know I found you. You never fade away. The joy of Christmas, stays here inside us, fills each and every heart with love.
~ Where Are You Christmas
And in the end, it all comes together. It somehow, always, all comes together.
The Christmas Eve concert – while bogged down with politics and too many exhausting hours of chaotic rehearsals – ended up being its own kind of beautiful. And, in the end, when the final notes of Silent Night soared up to the ceilings of the showroom, and I caught Amras’ eye from behind the microphone (where I had been summarily placed early on in the final rehearsal) there was a sparkle there that I knew was reflected in my own. A tired sparkle, but a sparkle none the less, and a small spark of pride – we did it, we made it. And looking out that the audience, the guests more than appreciated it.
When the concert was over we all trooped back to the green room and decompressed, and most of the entertainment department ended up sitting in a circle on the floor (“and entertainment sits on the floor, like the big kids we all know they are”) sipping watered down hot chocolate and swapping stories of christmases long past (Furbies! Canopy beds! Puppies!) as the room slowly emptied out around us. As so often seems the case with this particular ship, drama did its best to infiltrate the festivities, but we managed our way around it as we have all become so good at doing (one of the few good things about drama? You find out just who your friends are, and adversity sometimes builds the strongest unexpected bonds) – and hugs and cups of hot tea were exchanged in hallways before the doors eventually all clicked shut.
Amras and I exchanged one gift each on Christmas Eve. And I got to carry forward a tradition that has been with me since childhood (“I give you a book, you give me a tie” and the world needs a little faith), and while I didn’t call home that night, I at least got to talk to home (thank heavens for being able to send video recordings and messenger).
The next morning it was all about the kids. I was not scheduled to show up at the showroom for Christmas morning, but my Christmas present to myself had been to schedule the morning off – so I was there; singing out of tune carols (because they always pitch them too high) and waiting for the inevitable annoucement bells…
Ladies and gentlemen this is the officer of the watch…an unidentified flying object has been sighted near to the ship. At this time we do not anticipate any danger, but I will keep you informed as details arise.
Gets me every time. There are always children on the ship who are young enough that they still believe, and the team members who do show up are the ones that know how to play (seriously, you should have seen our lead female singer).
After Santa had made his way through the ship and handed out all his gifts, I muddled my way downstairs and Amras and I had our own Christmas morning. Like I’ve said before, on ships we fit our Christmas’ in between giving everyone else theirs – so there is an extra kind of magic about sitting cross legged on the bed and taking those few moments to ourselves. Laughing at each other’s wrapping techniques and wishing we had a fridge so that we could have had more egg nog.
We managed to get a strong enough single to call home; and I actually managed to keep my parents on the phone for more than five minutes which is an accomplishment in and of itself. So despite being miles away from home, I still got to spend Christmas morning with my family – which I think was highlight of the day for both sides of the phone line.
No matter how old I get, or how far away I travel, I will always always leave part of my heart at home.
We wandered briefly out into the tropical rain in port and took pictures of the giant Christmas trees and delighted in peanut butter Haagen-Daaz ice cream; before realizing that everything was rightfully closed for the holidays and it was better to just head back and get some rest, but the ice cream? The ice cream was totally worth it.
The evening brought about the formal crew Christmas dinner; the one night of the year when we are given full table service, with linens and menus and Christmas pudding that always tastes like more. There was laughter, and tears, and both myself and one of our lead cast members who is engaged to one of the other musicians were left to box up our fiancés’ suppers to eat between shows as they were (as band members always are) called away to the show before their plates arrived. Lo the duties of being a band fiancé/wife/girlfriend/whichever. There were stories shared and dresses tripped over and photos taken in front of the great glittering Christmas trees…
And for hours after the guests had turned to their beds, there was laughter and giggling squeals going up and down the hallways (“it’s called blowing off steam…and it’s important”)…
And then I read one more chapter of Harry Potter before turning out the lights…
And on the edges of the air, as my breathing slowed to sleep, I could have sworn I caught just the faintest scent of oranges…
And I said some words to close and holy darkness and then I slept.
Merry Christmas to all.
And to all a good night.