One Christmas Down.....Two To Go....

I don’t know about you, but I find myself this time of year missing and yearning for the “feeling” of Christmas when I was young.  I remember fondly the “smell” of Christmas; staring for hours at the large multi-colored bulbs that were strung on our real Christmas tree; going to Northpark Mall and seeing all the Christmas decorations and the hustle and bustle of everyone in a hurry with their coats on and Christmas music playing in the background.  Then the build up to the BIG day; I could hardly sleep at night waiting for morning.  I remember there was always a certain smell to Christmas morning; what I now know to be the “new present smell”.   I remember getting a bike one Christmas and riding it all around the converted one car garage that we called the “den” before waking Mom and Dad.  Those were good times.  I think a great deal of us spend our entire lives trying to get that “feeling” back.  Whether it be in the form of recreating it for our children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, we eventually discover its impossible to recreate.  It’s a memory. Reality probably wasn’t near as special as we choose to remember it.  Maybe we ought to try to make new memories; new experiences; new smells so that 40 years from now when we’re looking back on today, we’ll remember fondly (probably not realistically) what today “felt” like; what today “smelt” like and the wonderful memories that go with those things.

My side of the family had our Christmas yesterday.  We have had our family Christmas at the lakehouse for the past 7 years.  However, this year, we tried something different.  For various reasons, one being its harder and harder for Mom to travel, we had our family Christmas at Ellen’s house.  It was lovely.  Very lovely.  No one had to travel very far; everyone was in a good mood and we had a baby at the family Christmas for the first time in many, many years.  Baby Audrey was born in May of this year to Patty & Matt and, although Matt wasn’t able to make it to the family Christmas, Patty and Audrey were able to make it.  If the family Christmas had been at the lakehouse this year, Patty and Audrey probably wouldn’t have made it due to the distance.  So you see, change is good.  We just need to embrace it; feel it; smell it and enjoy it!

“Lord, as I sit in traffic school, I realize that I need to slow down in more ways than one.”

Lee (on Twitter)