Christmas tradition in our family included going to church on Christmas Eve to the candlelight service. We would then gather at my aunts house which was down the street from our house where she had prepared an actual program of activities. She played piano. We would sing Christmas carols, have dinner and were allowed to open one present. I loved Christmas.
I would wake up on Christmas Day and run to the living room to find Santa had eaten the cookies and drank the milk. There were always toys, dolls, bicycles, clothes and everything on my list. I can’t think of a time I asked Santa for something that he did not deliver. I look back at my early years and feel fortunate. Very fortunate.
My aunt still lives in the same house on the street where I spent the first 11 years of life. She is 84. We moved when I was 12 and traditions at my aunts house would be gone forever. We moved again when I was 13 and shortly after that my parents’ marriage dissolved. That would be the end of many traditions and the beginning of new ones.
I have continued to enjoy Christmas but for some reason certain Christmas Carols create tears. I have not quite figured that one out yet but I am sure it has something to do with the estrangement from my father and the years spent in church singing such Melodies. There is a void that can never be filled.
I do believe in Santa though and always will. Santa is always jolly and a giving soul and I always enjoy giving rather than receiving. When I was younger my parents would take me to get my picture made with Santa. There’s one picture where I am not happy. I am crying and I don’t know if I was scared or what was going on because I was too little to remember. I can only imagine I must’ve been terrified of the man with the white beard.
I get into the holiday spirit around my birthday which is the middle of December. Shopping for others and wrapping presents is the most fun! As Christmas Day nears, though, I am ready for a new year to begin. The holidays can be exhausting.
Everyone is running around trying to find that last minute gift. It’s Christmas Eve and I realized that I did not have enough scotch tape so about ten after five I went to Walmart and one would have thought the entire city was there. They closed at six. I was lucky to even find a roll of scotch tape but I found a couple and headed to the checkout lanes. I got out of there fairly quickly. As I was leaving the parking lot at twenty minutes until closing, there were still cars pouring into the parking lot. I hope they were successful in their search for the perfect gift. 
Christmas is highly commercialized and has been for as long as I can remember. I think many have lost sight of the true meaning.
I hope Christmas Day is filled with laughter, hugs and spending time with those who matter in your life. Those kinds of days seem few and far between. We need more of them.
Must go to sleep or he won’t pay me a visit. I believe in Santa. Do you?
Merry Christmas!! 💕
~MH
I Care. Let’s Talk. 