Glasswax Snowmen
Old Doc Hawk didn�t grow up in a Christian home, so when we hooked up 10 years ago, he was still pretty much a Christmas virgin. He wasn�t grinchy or humbuggy, but the day held sad memories for him, so he chose to ignore it. He spent the first Christmas that I knew him working at the hospital so that his colleagues could have the day off. I don�t think it was the cafeteria�s festive ham and sweet potato dinner that was the lure.
I bought him a present that year. He didn�t get me anything. At that point in our relationship, Hawk didn�t realize that I was the love of his life, even though I knew it. He was in his residency and putting in 36hr days. He said he didn�t have time to be in a relationship, although he did make time for sex and food, provided I was serving up both. The man was busy, but not stupid.
I was gentle and patient with Ramon as I initiated him into the wonders of Christmas and he discovered, eventually,that he liked the feasting and receiving of gifts. The next Christmas, I did get a present. Over the years he admitted that �my house� which eventually became �our house�looked pretty all donned in it�s gay apparel. He learned to love white twinkle lights.
But he totally balked at the Glass Wax Christmas stencils.
GlassWax, as you probably know, is a cleaning product from the Eisenhower era that is a lot like liquid car wax. It comes in a pink metal can, so that already says �gay� to me! Every year back during the 50s, the GlassWax people would market their product along with a set of Holiday Stencils. Only 59 cents! You would tape the stencils on a window, and then daub the liquid Glass Wax into the negative spaces. The stuff dried white and frosty and a winter wonderland was created on the living room window. It was inexpensive fun for the entire family AND come the New Year, your windows were sparkly clean.
Mom had 2 sets of stencils that she had saved from her childhood. Family tradition said that it wasn�t Christmas until a Little Town of Bethlehem was created with Santa�s sleigh flying over head. The gift bearing Wise Men wandered down the window through a forest of decorated Christmas trees and Candy Canes. The Travis family is not famous for historical accuracy. We often forget to mention that our famous ancestor was in fact killed by the Mexicans at the Alamo.
Several years into the relationship, I tried to lure Ray into helping me stencil the Wintery Masterpiece. Let�s just say he was resistant.
I was hurt that he wouldn�t play with me. Stenciling the window was a precious Christmas memory and I wanted to share it with him. In retrospect, I was pushy and then got sulky. Imagine that! He felt guilty and then got silent. Nobody was happy
I have learned over the years that no matter how much you love someone, you can�t force your own happy childhood memories on them. If their own childhood was a waking nightmare, all the magic of Christmas can�t erase that. For some people it�s just a tin of glass cleaner and some fuzzy looking snowmen and angels on a window.
Maria, the B-Gurlz and I stenciled the window again this year. What? You didn�t know that the 3 Wise men followed the Star while riding on Santa�s reindeer. Ol Doc Hawk read the December issue of the �Journal of Infectious Childhood Diseases' but afterwards he made it a point to tell the ladies how pretty the window looked.
You can still buy Glass Wax at Restoration Hardware and the stencils are available on Ebay. Or you can get it here
Go make some memories!
