A Christmas Memory

With Christmas looming on Friday it seems cliche to reflect on the season yet that is where my thoughts and feelings are hiding. This year is a tight year for us. The kindness and generosity of friends and family has lifted the burden - none the less we have tightened the proverbial belt. But I would say that in the tightening I feel relieved. I don't remember the conglomeration of gifts i received as a child, or even as an adolescence (with a few notable exceptions). The things about Christmas, the reason to be joyful and at peace run far deeper than the material expression of giving and receiving. (That isn't to say I'm not materialistic, i have a "Christmas list" the length of I-5, however I have, tried, to reposition my priorities within our situation.)

What I remember most about Christmas are the lights on the tree. Honestly, as a child I would lay in front of our wall height gas furnace with the heat clicked up and bake in the hot air. Nothing to me was more gratifying during the winter months. For the month of December I would lay and gaze across the room, in the early mornings, at our tree. The stand out being the non-sequitor collaboration of lights, flashing or solid, big and small, I watched the the lights flicker and cast shadows around the room, over the walls, and across the floor.

On Christmas morning I was always the first one up and after careful examination of my stockings (another fond memory, my parents would put together lavish stockings for me and my brothers and sister) I would retreat to my spot in the furnace and watch the lights. Fall back asleep with our dog--a beautiful English Springer named Denali--and wait for Christmas presents and the traditional breakfast of Codfish gravy, biscuits, apple ring, Danish cinnamon bread, bacon, and as i matured pot after pot of rich black coffee.

My parents made Christmas very special for us, as limited as we were financially, it was a lavish morning that stands out in my mind. We never felt poor, especially on Christmas. As a father and husband I hope that together this family is able to replicate that, that my wife and I can bestow a similar memory to our children. At this point that is all I really want for Christmas.