I Love Christmas! I love everything about Christmas; the lights in the windows and on every tree limb and anything else that doesn't move. And, the more the merrier. Tacky light tour? I'm all for it. I love the smells of Christmas...the smell of a crackling fire, candles burning, cookies and gingerbread men right out of the oven. The smell of the tree and cinnamon and spice. The tinsel, the wreaths, how people are just a little bit nicer to one another and say please and thank-you with a smile on their faces.
And, the music. Bing Crosby singing White Christmas and even the Chipmunks...love it all. From Silver Bells to Rudolph to All I Want for Christmas. A baby's first Christmas picture with Santa either in a daze or screaming at the stranger in the red suit.
I don't even mind the traffic (well maybe a little), but I can tolerate it and the shopping. I love the gifts - giving and receiving and watching a little kid's face beaming as he rips open those gifts and loving everything Santa has brought.
One year we had a Christmas party at the place I was working, and after lunch the boss started asking everyone about their best Christmas. I was at a complete loss for my best Christmas so I made something up. Had he asked about my most memorable Christmas that would have been a different story. Most of my life the Christmases have been wonderful...and of course a child's first Christmas is important and always fun, but they seem to blur as the years go by. However, I do have some memorable Christmases to share, so in no particular order of importance I will share them.
1. One year early in my marriage we were spending Christmas Eve with our friends Bonnie & Herman at their apartment. We heard a commotion coming from outside so we decided to investigate and when we opened the door - well there was Santa. Well we invited Santa in to have a little drink with us - big mistake. This Santa came in and we all saw it - a black eye. It didn't take long before we discovered our new friend was a member of the KKK and had gotten the black eye - well in a fight of course. We just waited and hoped he wouldn't stay too long.
2. 1959. My father was a drinker. I mean a big time drinker when he drank. Binge drinker, but able to hold a steady job. He usually drank way too much during the holidays and would make our lives miserable until he finally passed out. This particular year he decided on Christmas Eve (after the company party) that we were going to North Carolina to spend Christmas with his sisters because he never got to see his family and my mother's family was blah blah blah. So, sometime after dinner he makes his announcement and tells my mother to hand out the presents cause we're getting up a 5am and heading south. I could see my mother crying, but we didn't open the gifts that night. My father went to bed and we didn't see him again til morning. And, we didn't go to North Carolina.
3. 196? The year Sound of Music came out in theaters. We had had a pretty normal Christmas day with presents, big meal, friends, etc. After dinner I went to the movies with one of my friends and her parents to see Sound of Music. When we came back home I remember my parents' car was not out front so I was just a little curious. When I opened the front door my mother was on the telephone with my father's boss and they were trying to figure out how to bail him out of jail....dui. They didn't mean as much back then as they do now.
4. 1988. The year I knew my marriage was over. I had been busy all day Christmas Eve baking, wrapping presents, just trying to make sure everything was just right for the next day since all of my family would be coming to our house. The kids were out doing their kid things and I was busy in the kitchen and my then husband had been out almost all day with a buddy of his. And, after dinner when we should have been together he went off to bed and I remember sitting in front of the tree and thinking "oh my God, I've turned into my mother" and sobbed.
But guess what? I Love Christmas!
