Holiday wishes to all

We have been in Chicago for the past 5 days visiting family and friends, and we have entertained the question often as to whether or not we would consider relocating back to Chicago-especially now that Gabriella is job hunting. When the wind chill is -20 degrees, and there are blizzard warnings every time we turn on the news and the cumulative total thus far of snow fall is roughly 3 feet and counting, it is difficult to imagine moving here. It's f-ing freezing people! We waited for an hour at the airport for our luggage because the baggage door on the airplane had frozen shut!

Has this always been considered a habitable climate since the beginning of time? Are you telling me that the Native Americans sat around in their tee-pees all winter huddled in front of fires freezing their tushies off and didn't once think that it might be better somewhere else? Not one of them had a distant relative in another tribe in Miami (maybe someone who married out of the tribe perhaps) who sent a smoke signal or two inviting them to pack up their moccasins and move south where the weather was warm all year round? "They had a lot of blankets," Gabriella explained to me. She's got an answer for everything. In fact, there are a lot of things we could learn from the Native Americans and Eskimos about keeping warm, but I still can't believe that this was a happy time of year for everyone. Cold is cold.

Truth be told, there are probably just as many reasons we'd consider moving back to the frozen tundra of Chicago as there were reasons that people of yesteryear would never have considered leaving - having nothing to do with the Bears, deep dish pizza, Frank Lloyd Wright and certainly not leaders like Rod Blagojevich. Each reason comes complete with a name and story that defines us and connects us to this f-ing cold city forever. Each reason has a name. They are the names of friends and family – members of our tribe who make life complete especially if you are lucky to have friends and family like ours. That's not to say that we don't have other close friends and family members in other cities. But the biggest concentration is here-where I grew up and where Gabriella and I met 15 years ago. We didn't start dating until months into our friendship, but that's another story if anyone cares to hear about how she relentlessy pursued me until I had no choice but to succumb to her advances. (That's my story, anyway. She can write her own blog is she's got something to say about it.)

Normally, I dread the winter holidays. In the autumn months, we have to get through 379 Jewish holidays (more or less), both boys' birthdays and Thanksgiving. By the time we hit Chanukah and New Years, I've had just about enough celebrating. Then there's the constant reminder of Christmas everywhere we turn. I'm all for getting into the spirit of whatever holiday(s) you celebrate, but I'd have to be in a coma to avoid all the Christmas PR beginning at about Halloween and seeping into every mode of mass communication known to humankind. The minute we deplaned our aircraft upon arrival into Chicago, we came face to face with Santa Claus and his joyous lady assistant offering us a Polaroid picture with the man in red. Once I established that they weren't going to hit us up for cash, we politely obliged. The boys had no idea who this guy was but he seemed jovial enough, and we were soon on our merry way to baggage claim with a photo of the family with Santa Claus tucked into a cardboard frame that we'll display next to the photo of Asher with Dora the Explorer on a recent excursion to Mommy's office.

What I can appreciate about this time of year inspite of the gag-worthy Christmas marketing is the focus on giving to others and appreciating what you have. After the few days in this inhospitable climate, we are still grateful for having spent time with our tribe. We have an amazing family (and by family, I mean relations and friends) who constantly remind us how lucky we are. And even though both of our boys have suffered from various illnesses throughout our trip which have prevented us from getting one good night sleep and forced us to do 10 times the loads of laundry, I can still say that Chicago looks pretty good to us. It could be that we've had one too many festive drinks throughout our visit, but I'm pretty sure that after we've returned home and detoxed for a few days, we'll still feel the pull of our tribe.

Whatever you celebrate, however you celebrate and regardless of whether or not you celebrate anything at all, I do hope that you are surrounded by love as we have been this season. That kind of love gets you through just about everthing whether it's unemployment, freezing cold temperatures or sleepless nights due to sickly children. It's a powerful gift I wish for you all. Happy holidays!

(Photo from Tribune 1936)