"Time’s gone by since that silly, regrettable business/When she became known as The Girl Who Ruined Christmas."

"Helen harbors the hope that the passing five years/Have made folks forget both the vomit and tears..."

And throwing of glassware and drunken oration,
That half-hour tirade of recrimination
Where, feeling misused, she had got pretty plastered,
And named His name publicly, called him a bastard.
The details are fuzzy, though others have told her
She insulted this one and cried on that shoulder,
Then lurched ’round the ballroom, all pitching and weaving
And ended the night in the ladies’ lounge, heaving.

From David Rakoff's "Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel," found, this morning, on my search for "Christmas" amongst my ebooks.