Home for Christmas 2023

I find it hard to understand why some people don’t like Christmas, or why some even go out of their way to criticize or even attack it. I have wonderful memories of Christmas and for me it is hard to imagine what life would have been like without Christmas. It is true that most of these memories have been blurred together by the passage of time. I have written about some of these memories on earlier posts but here are a couple of others. 

Many, many years ago when my eldest son was just a boy, he had a best friend named John, but everyone called him by his nickname, “Stepper.”  Stepper was often at our house and one day just before Christmas we were discussing the fact that Christmas Day that year would be on a Monday, just like this year. When we explained to Stepper that not only would he have to attend Mass on Sunday, he would also have to attend on Monday, the day of the feast, he erupted vehemently and protested: “WHAT A RIP-OFF!" 

I suppose my favorite memory is just being home for Christmas when all our kids were young. As our family grew larger, Linda and I decided to just stay home on Christmas, and not visit relatives. It was our custom to put up the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. We usually put it in its stand early in the day, but waited until after dinner to decorate it. All six children would pitch in to put on the lights, and the other decorations. However, no presents would be placed around the tree until after the kids went to bed. We left that to Santa.

It was only about one or two in the morning that my wife would take the presents from secret hiding places, that we now know were not so secret, and place them under and around the tree. Next morning, sometimes even before break of dawn, the kids would come clambering down full of excitement even though there were some years when the pickings were sparse. After opening the presents we would sit down around the table for Linda’s wonderful breakfast.

Inevitably, while all this was going on I would play Anne Murray’s Christmas album, “Christmas Wishes.” Anne Murray was a particular favorite of mine and I still believe that her album is the best Christmas album. My favorite song was her rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” The kids are all grown now and my wife and I will be alone this Christmas morning, but like Anne, I’m “dreaming tonight of a place I love”:  that home when Linda and I were sitting around the tree with all the kids: Fran, Ed, Anne, Kate, Jane, and DD.

 

Merry Christmas to all.

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