The Return of the Skanky Swap

[tedwords]

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” ― Gustav Mahler

If there is one thing my life has been about, it's been the celebration of certain beloved traditions, and this year, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, we were able to reestablish one of my favorites--the annual skanky swap on New Year's eve.

We hosted a smaller gathering of family last year, but this time around, we opened it up a bit wider, and practically all of our recurring friends were able to attend--about 18 in all. Unlike the more traditional "Yankee Swap," the object is to bring with you gifts that aren't nice...nor gifts that are even somewhat decent, just blah...but to bring gifts that are simply downright awful. We have through the years established some ground rules--you cannot actually include real feces in any of the gifts, for example, and you MUST leave with whatever gift you get stuck with-but beyond that, practically anything goes. 

I think because of the long absence, although some folks were planning to leave hours before the new year rang in, everyone ended up staying around until two in the morning, which kind of shocked me. Nobody really wanted to leave. I think we were just all so happy to be together again and doing something that we loved being a part of. 

Artwork was a big part of the tacky gifts this year--and a lot of it was recurring. The purple Elvis painting has been a part of the gift giving for almost two decades now--it was once used as a prop in a show I directed, and every year, someone ends up with it, and is required to a) return next year with it, and b) add something to it. This year's addition was a lovely mask and the removal of a "Make America Hate Again" hat (it's so nice for that to finally be an item of the past). 

Corb and I went to bed that...morning? Happy, but contented. It was nice to have that sort of normalcy return again. And even some bridges mended a bit--Pauline's boyfriend John, who was NOT invited last year due to his vaccination status, was invited this year (if he catches something, on his head be it, frankly) and he started the evening somewhat guarded, but by the end of the evening, his heart had grown a few sizes larger. And Buns brought her husband Tom, who literally has never stepped foot in Green Victoria in the ten years that we have been here. Our thought was that he didn't approve of Corb and I, but you couldn't tell that if that was the case...it couldn't have been a nicer visit. And Charley and Heather, who have been invited for years but have never been able to attend, managed to show up and it was lovely to have them there.   

I'm so grateful to be in a position to resume old traditions again. While the cast of characters will evolve and change as time goes by, some things, like tacky purple Elvis paintings, only grow sweeter with time.