Here's the clip from the movie unfortunately I couldn't link up the scene where George Bailey accosts the spinster librarian who never married but I found this still frame shot from the movie.
Every year my local city newspaper, The Deseret News, publishes original reader-submitted essays about their most memorable Christmas under the subject: The Christmas I Remember Best.
I thought I'd share my own submission to Deseret News of my own memorable Christmas past and the Christmas Future I yearn for. If they don't publish it, it's okay, because I'm posting it here for the entire world!
It’s a Wonderful (Single?) Holiday Life
By Michelle Llewellyn
Dear Father in Heaven,
I know I haven’t prayed in awhile
but if you’re up there and if you can hear me, I’d just like to remind you that
I’m forty years old now and still waiting for you to either send someone who
will lasso the moon for me or lead me to a fulfilling career. Flipping burgers
isn’t exactly how I imagined using my two college degrees. Spending yet another
Christmas alone isn’t exactly how I imagined my life turning out either.
I’m beginning to wonder what the
world would be like without me. The death of a patriarchal society, men
shunning their responsibilities with nobody seeming to mind, has left the bulk
of community and family service to women. I love being an aunt, the world’s
best babysitter, but I’d prefer the title of “Mommy” like all the other women
my age. Teaching Sunday school, serving all the married people in my
neighborhood because I have tons of disposable time and money on my hands is
supposed to fill that empty hole. Well, guess what? It isn’t working anymore.
With no offers from a big, strong man courtesy of ldssingles.com to pay my
bills so I can be a stay-at-home mom, I’m forever on my own. I’m beginning to
think no one will miss me. How long’s it been since a young man asked me out on
a date? I fear I’ve gotten senile in my middle age.
Remember that 1984 Christmas when I
was ten and all my little girlfriends had Cabbage Patch Dolls except me? I was
so happy when I unwrapped my very own chubby, dimpled, pacifier-faced baby
girl, beige yarn hair in braids complete with official birth certificate and
adoption papers. That was the same year I tried to cheer up my family as my
parents were contemplating ending their dysfunctional marriage by getting a
divorce. I thought, maybe if I put together a Christmas Eve program with me playing
the piano and assembling my younger brothers and sister acting out the
Christmas Nativity story, it might postpone the dreaded event that would
forever change our family unit. They ended up divorcing anyway but the Cabbage
Patch Doll helped.
Well, that’s sort of what I had in
mind for this year. Like Ralphie’s Red Ryder, you could surprise me by pulling
out an eleventh-hour Christmas miracle for me to unwrap. With all the Mr. (and
Mrs.) Potters in Utah constantly passing me over for all those higher paying jobs
requiring a degree, maybe I could get that library job I recently applied for.
I can just picture myself walking home one evening after closing when a crazy
man, claiming to be my long lost husband runs up to me, demanding to know the
whereabouts of our children which means he desperately wants to create a family
with me. I promise I won’t scream or faint! Instead, I’ll throw myself into his
arms so we can start multiplying and replenishing.
Yes, I realize there have been many
opportunities in the past to initiate a relationship with a member of the opposite
sex. I haven’t forgotten all those blind dates you’ve blessed me with. One-time
only blind dates that never worked out because so many single men these days
don’t do romance and have tastes that are very singular compared to my high
standards and principles that don’t include commitment to an Xbox or another
person of the same gender. I’ve tried to live a full and meaningful life,
finding happiness in the little crumbs thrown at me but it isn’t easy
sometimes.
Please, don’t wait too long to make
up your mind which Christmas wish to bestow on me. I must have a career or a
husband soon before frustration and flat-out desperation drive me to hook up
with Tinder or some other Monster!
How about if you just give me
Clarence’s phone number instead? He seems like a really sweet guy. He’s
immortal, he can fly, save lives and he likes to read; every single woman’s
dream of a potential husband.
If not, I’ll just hasten my way to
the next life where I’ve been told every desire of my heart awaits me,
including all the Cabbage Patch Dolls I ever wanted. Okay?
Amen
And here's what she looks like thirty years later. The pink "Cabbage Patch Kids" enblazoned nylon jacket is the only original item of clothing left . (Please, don't sue me for indecent exposure, Xavier!) The pink and white striped shirt, blue pants, pink and white tennis shoes, socks and original pacifier were all loved away over the years including the original yarn braids, re-styled, because, honestly, doesn't she look like a Fraggle with that 1984 hair? And, no, I don't mean the giddy owner sitting next to her!
Let go. Give yourself permission to let go and walk away.
ReplyDeleteAmen. You spoke true. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAs a single Mormon sister I don't think we can complain about being a spinster. I'm 31 and still feel very young. I know though some of my friends might have different opinions about me.
ReplyDelete