Christmas Holiday

Transcript

There's your hot chocolate. Careful, it's really, really hot. Hence the name, I suppose.

Do you think that weather's going to actually let up, or do you think we'll really be stuck? Well, you're the one who lives here, so. ..

Where I'm from, we don't get snow like this. It was one of the draws to this place. The pictures on the listing made it look just absolutely idyllic, and it is.

It could get that bad, huh? Wow, that long? Okay, well, thank you, then, for bringing the firewood and the water and supplies.

You didn't have to do that on Christmas Eve, just so you know. I mean, that's kind of going above and beyond the host duties, don't you think? Well, I do appreciate it.

The fireplace is beautiful, too. I've been pretty much living in front of it since I've been here. I actually slept on the couch last night so that I didn't have to leave it.

Um, I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Am I keeping you from anything? I mean, I know you just stopped by to drop off stuff, and now I've roped you into hot chocolate.

It's Christmas Eve. Do you have somewhere else you need to be? Oh, no family to get in arguments with and eat an incredibly filling meal with and watch Grandpa fall asleep at the head of the table?

Nothing like that? Oh, I didn't realize. Um, okay, yeah, sure, sure.

I understand the urge to be alone, believe me. Preferring the mountains to people? Yeah, I can see that.

As someone who lives in a very busy city and is constantly surrounded by people, the serenity of this place is unlike anything I've ever experienced. And the snow is so beautiful, even if it does trap us here. Do you ever get lonely living at the base of a mountain in the middle of nowhere? I suppose.

This place was rented quite a bit in advance. I'm glad I booked it when I did. I got lucky.

Must have been a cancellation or something. Yeah, well, when I was looking at further dates out, it's like next winter that you have availability, so. So you always have guests, I guess.

Well, that's good. Being able to go visit friends when you're tired of being alone. Is that what they say to you? That that's when you go back into the real world? Really? Well, let me tell you, the real world is overrated.

It really can be sometimes. I think you have the right idea here. Well, I guess that's only fair I asked you.

I am here alone and will be alone for the holiday. Um, I was, uh, well, I was unceremoniously dumped not too long ago. And this is my first holiday alone in quite a few years.

I just wanted to get away. I didn't want to sit in my apartment staring at the walls, wondering. Wondering what could have been, you know? I mean, I could have gone on the big trip that my friends organized for their families, but they all have kids and I would have been by myself without anybody.

And that can feel even more isolating than being alone, you know? So I decided I was going to take my remaining vacation time and get away. And here I am.

No, no, it's fine. No decorations necessary. No, just the atmosphere.

The snow and the fireplace and the beautiful candles that are in every room. They smell so good. That's Christmassy enough.

And the snow really is what makes it Christmas for me. Yeah, um, when I was a kid, my parents used to take us skiing every year. Mm-hmm.

Just the three of us. And, uh, that was our Christmas. They would load all the Santa gifts in the bags and hide them in the back of the car.

And I was oblivious, of course. And then we would spend a week on the slopes and Santa would find us at whatever hotel we were at or whatever cabin we were at or wherever we ended up. And, um, yeah.

But it was always the snow that I remembered. How pure it is, how white, how beautiful. How cold.

Yeah. Um, I should have guessed that's where the conversation was going to go when I brought up my parents. I don't have anything to do with them anymore.

Well, I'm never going to see you again after this, so I may as well unload to a stranger. Um, my dad left my mom when I was in high school. Um, he met some woman at the grocery store and decided he wanted to start a whole new life, so he did.

And my mom, well, she, um, she had a revolving door of boyfriends after that and just became a really unpleasant person. She's currently on her fourth marriage, and the guy's a real winner, but can't tell her anything. And my dad's new wife hates me because I look so much like my mom.

So I just don't bother. It's not worth it, you know? I prefer the company of my friends, and usually I have a lot of them around, but like I said, they all went away this year, and I was supposed to go before the, uh, aforementioned dumping that, uh, came out of nowhere.

Does this happen often? Do strangers just sit here and pour out their life stories to you? No? Oh, great.

So I'm turning this peaceful vacation into an episode of Dr. Phil, and you have to sit there and listen. I'm sorry.

Oh. Well, thank you. I'm not normally a talker, but you're very easy to talk to.

Yeah. My ex was the talker. He was always talking about something.

I've now discovered that a lot of it was bullshit, but, you know. He, um, he took a job in another country, and instead of telling me about it and asking if I wanted to go with him because we were, I thought, planning a life together. We'd been together for almost five years.

He just, he took me to dinner one night, and I thought we were going to make some plans, and he just said he was going alone. And he didn't want to do the long-distance thing. That was his words, the long-distance thing.

And asked me not to make a scene in the restaurant. I felt like I was in the middle of a bad movie or something. But that's what happened.

I should have known. We never moved in together. We were always separate, but together, you know.

And now I know why. He was just waiting for something better. I wish I'd known that earlier.

But here we are, live and learn, right? I'm sorry, this is so inappropriate. If you want to go before the weather gets really bad, I'm okay.

If this isn't something that happens very often, it shouldn't be happening at all. Unloading my personal baggage onto a complete stranger isn't really my style, but like I said, you're easy to talk to. You look like you're actually listening.

Yeah. I would imagine you meet new people all the time with the amount that this place has rented. Okay, fair.

None that you want to have hot chocolate and conversation with. None that you want to be on an episode of Dr. Phil with, is what you're saying.

You know, it really is getting kind of ugly out there. Yeah, yeah, you should probably go while it's still safe to do so. You're not far, are you? Okay.

Couple minutes. Uh, I do, I do have your number, so. I will.

I'll call or text if anything goes sideways, but I don't imagine it will. This might be out of line, and tell me, please, if it is, but it is Christmas Eve, and tomorrow's Christmas Day. And I went into town earlier and bought all the fixings for Christmas breakfast and Christmas dinner.

Because besides the snow, the food is one of my favorite parts. But I have so much, so if you'd like to and you're available, do you want to maybe join me for some food tomorrow? Breakfast? It's just pancakes and bacon and that kind of thing.

Coffee, of course, coffee's a must. Hot chocolate if you want. I can even do mocha.

Why am I rattling on like this? Oh my gosh. I'm asking you to breakfast, if you'd like.

If not, it's totally fine, I get it. I mean, with the way this weather's going, you might not be able to get here anyway, but. ..

Yeah? Okay. I hadn't really thought about a time.

Alright. Okay, yeah, if you're an early riser, I'll just text you when I'm ready. I guess? Yeah, I'd like that too.

I did not expect to meet someone so nice on this trip, and especially on Christmas Eve. I thought this was going to be the worst Christmas I'd had in a long time, but. ..

It might not be such a bad Christmas after all. Thanks for watching!