So where are you today? Home for Christmas or to be politically correct, home for the holiday?
To be sure there has been a lot of movement, people flying in from the cold North to the warmer climes of the tropics, some to be with family and loved ones; some just to be in from the cold.
But there are Caribbean sons and daughters who are in far flung places like Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting a war alongside colleagues from their adopted homelands, sidestepping landmines or the euphemistic IEDs, just so that someone at home may have a life.
There’s the saying home is where the heart is but I’m sure nobody’s heart is in the trenches.
Home for the holiday conjures images of warmth by the hearth for those of us in temperate places and days by the beach after a delectable spread washed down with sorrel and maybe rum or coconut water.
But the way of the world with global religious and ethnic aggressions has caused tumult in most economies, no matter the gloss and sheen of the shopping malls.
For some of us this scenario has unfortunate implications. Like the woman recovering from a host of illnesses and recent stays in the hospital, with children at home in Canada and expectant relatives in Jamaica, hoping for that money transfer call that will not be, because she got the lay off notice from the boss in mid-December.
She would see no joy in being home for Christmas, nor see the warmth that this season is supposed to bring
If you are home, we hope it’s where you want to be.
