Opinion The Christmas clan By John Gathright	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
クリスマスを祝う一族 親せきが海外に大勢いる筆者は、毎年クリスマスが近づくにつれ、プレゼントを買って送る手間を思って憂うつになる。しかし、今年のクリスマスはプレゼントの準備が楽しくて仕方がない。その理由は—。

Call me Scrooge if you want, but every year, around this time, I start to get the pre-Christmas blues. It was so bad last year that I started considering Grinch as my mentor.

I like Christmas, it is just that the preparation drives me nuts. Every year at this time, my wife Hiroko, my sons Johnny and Denny and I, are busy shopping and preparing our packages and gifts to be sent overseas. I am the oldest of eight children, who are now grown up with their own families. When you include all of their children, in-laws, grandmas, grandpas and cousins, we make a clan of over 150 people.

The Gathright clan is so geographically widespread that we are found throughout the four corners of the earth and even on the seven seas. Six of my relatives have been at sea on their yacht for the past two years, circling the globe.

Our clan's members are very migratory. It is almost impossible to make sure that Christmas gifts arrive at the right place and time. The total cost of presents and postage to 150 family members sent out by 150 people, is tremendous.

It is very costly and time-consuming, tracking down addresses, shopping and sending Christmas gifts to all. The anxiety and effort required dampens my Christmas spirit. I find the saying "Bah Humbug" from Scrooge and Grinch-like thoughts seeping into the spirit of love, joy and peace.

But this year is different. With all the turmoil and threats of terror enveloping the globe, our clan has collectively decided to have a "nesting" Christmas. Nesting is a new word that has become popular in America and Canada after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

This year, many American and Canadian families will be nesting; staying at home, enjoying quiet times together, avoiding huge shopping trips to the malls, traveling or other activities that could make them vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Many families are refraining from sending mail and packages through the post.

Our clan has decided that this year's Christmas theme will be "love, charity and memories." Every individual family will send the other families a digital collection of pictures, thoughts, short stories, poems and their personal family history. The clan took a special domain name for the occasion and opened a Web site to post all of the digital gifts. My brother is the Webmaster and he has asked that no one peek until Christmas morning.

It has been a challenge getting everyone on the Net. Some of our grandmas and grandpas have been busy sending their pictures to be scanned by other family members. One great-grandpa is learning to type at the age of 91. Our relatives at sea stopped in Bombay to visit an Internet cafe.

The clan has decided that we will all donate the money that we would have normally spent on gifts and postage to help New York city families, and an equal amount to help Afghanistan war victims.

I love this year's pre-Christmas preparations! Actually, so much so that my family is teasing me about my constant whistling of Christmas tunes, and my compulsive habit of saying "Ho-ho-ho!" I think that out of the sadness of war, nesting is the best thing that has happened to our family Christmas.

Shukan ST: Nov. 30, 2001

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