{"id":4492,"date":"2023-12-06T10:17:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T10:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/?p=4492"},"modified":"2023-12-06T10:17:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T10:17:43","slug":"the-christmas-escape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/06\/the-christmas-escape\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Escape"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was December 23rd and the familiar panic began rising in Ololo\u2019s chest. He glanced around the crowded house filled with in-laws, nieces, nephews, his wife barking orders to prepare for the big Christmas feast in two days. Slipping away quietly to the garage, Ololo loaded up his old pickup and started driving, with no destination in mind except \u201caway\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ololo wasn\u2019t the only one making a hurried escape that cold Christmas season. Bill grabbed his pre-packed bugout bag from the hallway closet as soon as his wife and daughters left for the mall to buy last minute gifts. \u201cThey\u2019ll be gone a good five hours,\u201d Bill thought with relief, hustling to unload the dishwasher and take out the trash to keep up appearances before sneaking out the backdoor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Across town, college buddies Mike, Danny and Walter met at Danny\u2019s apartment, clinking beers in gleeful rebellion to celebrate their getaway from the bombardment of family expectations and pressures of the season. They hoisted camping backpacks, loaded Steve\u2019s jeep, and set their sights on California\u2019s redwoods, leaving behind tearful girlfriends and obligations behind.<\/p>\n

On the road, Ololo felt his panic subsiding as the miles passed between him and the sniping in-laws scrutinizing why he hadn\u2019t bought the latest iPhone for their precious Sally. Rolling down the windows to numb the cold air, Ololo turned up the radio playing Otis Redding crooning \u201cAll I want for Christmas is to have Christmas my way\u201d. Ololo smiled, the first time in weeks since December swooped in with its smothering togetherness. Putting the confusion of family behind felt cathartic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bill navigated skillfully in and out of highway traffic, Images of his father-in-law lecturing him on 401k plans evaporating with each mile marker. How he longed for life\u2019s simplicity again, before bonuses andIRA\u2019s and in-laws defined his identity as an adequate provider at 35. Just him in the car alone, nobody needing him to shop or wrap or cook or assemble some new gadget. But the further he drove into wide open Wyoming landscapes, the more an unfamiliar inkling of sadness crept in. The unlistening voids in the road ahead mirrored life\u2019s increasing isolation.<\/p>\n

As night fell, our fugitive friends passed around a flask and joked loudly while assembling their tents, camaraderie bolstered by liberation. They ribbed Danny, recently dumped by his girlfriend after hesitating on the question to tie the knot after five long years. They playfully slapped Mike out of his trance, daydreaming of his fianc\u00e9\u2019s disappointment at waking up alone instead of snuggling by the Christmas tree. One by one they turned in, seeking early slumber. But escape into sleep eluded them as they lay ruminating over the hurt they left behind.<\/p>\n

Christmas morning arrived in a cascade of happy phone calls and torn wrapping paper for the wives, girlfriends and families left behind. After initially trying to reach their missing men, the calls soon ended. Gifts remained sealed as women old and young gathered to piece together clues to spur search parties.<\/p>\n

Back in the silent redwood groves, nobody felt like breaking camp. Cell phones lay ignored under scattered beer cans. The men sat together yet apart, gazing into smoke and acres of questions ahead. Why did it feel so right yet so hollow running away from home every Christmas? Were others daring escape from Heavy hollowness or merely shirking agreed duties?<\/p>\n

Ololo continued driving on Christmas day, wondering if the problem was family or him. Had he lost the spirit of the simple gifts in life like wind on the highway and soul freedom bought by solitude?\u00a0 Bill trekked deeper into the woods, seeking the man he was before bonuses and brownie points. The college friends played cards mindlessly, wrestling with aging into strangers to themselves.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

That night Ololo slept in his car, Bill in his bag under the stars. And the old buddies lay around a dying fire, sharing their first honest conversation in years about feeling swallowed up by modern life. They made a sober pact to drive home the next day and figure out how to recapture themselves and find fellowship again with those they ran away from every December.<\/p>\n

The story ends as our runaway men return home to the open arms of family. They apologize with humility and resolve to push reset on the hamster wheel rat race to keep up with the Joneses. After reconnecting with purpose, our wayward men realize that responsibilities grounded in love are blessings that unlock the true gifts of Christmas – forgiveness, presence and belonging.<\/p>\n

Jesus is the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was December 23rd and the familiar panic began rising in Ololo\u2019s chest. He glanced around the crowded house filled with in-laws, nieces, nephews, his wife barking orders to prepare for the big Christmas feast in two days. Slipping away quietly to the garage, Ololo loaded up his old pickup and started driving, with no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,641,467],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emotions","category-general","category-joke-corner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4497,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492\/revisions\/4497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adugyasidennis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}