I Was Thinking... Remembering Christmas

By now, all the presents have been unwrapped, undesired gifts returned, and lots of Christmas trees taken down. Another Christmas has come and gone. We spent weeks if not months preparing and it came and went before we knew it. Now all we have is memories. But memories may be the best part because they last long after the lights are turned off and the Christmas cookies are all eaten.
Without a doubt, Christmas is probably the source of more memories than any other holiday.
Let’s start with the music. There are more songs related to Christmas than any other holiday. White Christmas, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, Rock Around the Christmas Tree and many more. Then there is an array of religious music we sing only at this time of the year. Joy to the World, Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful and so many more that are classic Christmas hymns. We rarely need the music since almost all of them can be sung from memory.
Movies have been produced that are replayed every year at Christmas. One channel ran 24 hours of “A Christmas Story.” You can easily find “A Christmas Carol,” “A Wonderful Life,” or “Miracle on 34th Street” when you channel surf. More recent ones like “Home Alone,” “Elf,” or “National Lampoon Christmas Vacation” are favorites to many. We watch them year after year even though we know what is coming next because it has been imbedded in our memories.
Ralphy, from “A Christmas Story,” wanted the Red Rider BB Gun. It was his favorite Christmas gift of all time. Can’t you still remember that one Christmas when you got exactly what you wanted? As children, my sister and I were so surprised on Christmas morning when we saw two bicycles in the living room. Only years later did we tell our parents we had accidentally found them weeks earlier hidden upstairs in the garage. For my girls, the year they both got a Cabbage Patch doll seemed memorable.
My father talked about the Christmas tree he remembered as a child. His father did the decorating in the closed parlor, and they could only see it when it was finished. These trees were adorned with candles that were only lit for a short period of time. My memory of our childhood tree was one situated in the corner of the living room draped with an abundance of silver tinsel. When our children were small, we went to tree farms and cut our own tree. Today our tree is artificial but contains ornaments from my wife’s grandparents, ones from my parents, some we made when we were first married and those we purchased on trips we’ve taken. Each one elicits memories from our lives.
While most Christmas memories are pleasant, this time of year can also intensify those sad memories as well. I’ll always remember the Christmas of 1972 because my grandmother had just died, and she was buried on Christmas Eve. That first holiday after we lose a loved one is always the hardest because there is someone missing that has always been part of previous memories.
It won’t be long before we forget what we gave or received as Christmas gifts, the decorations will be packed away until next season, the kids will be back in school, and we will complain about how drab January seems. But if we close our eyes, let our minds wander a bit, and draw on our memories, some elements of Christmas will always be with us.
 
Did You Ever Wonder? — Can you daydream at night?