As I hum along to my favourite Christmas carol, I cannot help but think about Christmases past, when the focus was on my children’s excitement.

I still fondly remember tables were filled with goodies and multiple Christmas concerts for two year olds obsessed with their pretty new dress or teenagers performing in school bands required my attendance.

Those Christmases were full of noise with a rare silent night.

Fast forward to the senior years when we are often facing long distances between us and our children – where the hearth of the home may be just a candle or two on the dining room table.

As we get older, there are many silent nights stretching out before us. How does a New Old Ager fill those days?

What traditions pull you off your couch?

Snowbirds are great examples of New Old Agers and celebrations that take place between two worlds – one here in Osoyoos home or some other winter destination.

Each year, our town welcomes around 2,000 snowbirds from Alberta all the way to the Maritimes.

These new neighbours fill up the local resorts, coffee houses and, on many warm winter afternoons, they can be found gazing longingly into the windows of real estate offices up and down Main Street.

How do they celebrate this special holiday?

I discovered that many snowbirds plan special Christmas goodies for their Monday morning coffee or Friday night happy hour at the multiple resorts around town.

That and sipping the local wine keeps most feeling quite festive.

Dorothy Jones, a snowbird from Manitoba, commented she baked more since arriving in Osoyoos than she ever did at home.

Baking aside, are these visitors planning to slave over big turkey dinners in their tiny one or two bedroom condos?

I wandered through a few lobbies this past week and asked the Prairie visitors and a few easterners what their plans were now that they called Osoyoos their home-away-from-home.

Many commented on the community turkey dinners that are sponsored by the Osoyoos Seniors Centre and local churches around the town.

One joked that she would not have to cook all of December – she just needs to know which corner of town was feeding the “birds” that weekend.

What a wonderful way to welcome new neighbours into a community.

Small town traditions are senior-friendly and bring Christmas cheer to many of us.

The Osoyoos Santa Claus parade welcomed locals and visitors alike and gave all of us the opportunity to enjoy childish laughter, drink hot chocolate with friends, munch on Christmas cookies and wait expectantly for Santa to show up.

Multiple concerts and drama productions invite young and old to attend for an evening of pure joy.

Even shopping is an experience rather than a chore as the local shops welcome customers with music and friendly banter.

The Osoyoos Art Gallery opens their doors after its regular hours on a few evenings during the month and then includes a little wine tasting with your shopping experience. There are no crowded malls and no parking woes. It doesn’t get much better than that.

One of the biggest challenges facing seniors in the Boomer generation is the juggling of blended family celebrations.

Divorce catapulted many of the Baby Boomers into a world of “his and hers” which continues into their senior years – a change from our parent’s generation.

Co-parenting is not parked when the children reach 30.

With their adult children, sometimes dealing with three sets of parents/grandparents or more, they, as parents, would be remiss to be anything but co-operative with all participants, including ex’s.

Some snowbirds and locals expressed a little sadness when speaking about family that no longer gathers around their hearth at Christmas, but many jump from that sad note to laughing over the latest grandchild quote from their Facebook page.

Social media truly fills in the gap created by distance as grandparents get to enjoy instant pictures of their little ones without the long wait for snail mail.

I love to Skype with my grandchildren – especially the three year old who drags all of her toys, new and old, over to the screen to show Grammy.

Christmas for the New Old Age is still about family and friends and mistletoe – it just happens to be centred in the great Canadian desert where birds of a feather truly do flock together.

Merry Christmas, dear friends. See you in the New Year.

EILEEN HOPKINS

Special to the Times