Christmastime Is Here

Yes, I use the C-word.  It's a nasty habit I've had since I was little.  I learned it from my parents, and it has come to be one of the most treasured things I do each and every year.

Christmas is about the greatest gift we could ever be given, and the gifts we give that symbolize what happened in a cave in Bethlehem a couple thousand years ago.  A devout Jewish carpenter gave us a great example of step parenting.

The gifts given are a transport back to a simpler time, when the wonder of Christmas was in the belief that those presents under came from a man living on the North Pole, traveling by reindeer power.  It is a transport back to when you got what you really wanted, even though it wasn't what you told Santa when you were on his lap.  It is transport back to when Mom and Dad showed you how much you were loved, even when they weren't on your personal Nice List.

I still don't know how my parents did it with ten children.  When I was very little, there were college bills.  When the college bills were for me, the grandchildren always got something and seemed to love being with Grandma and Grandpa.  Everybody got a houseful of food, friendship, and love.  Maybe it was like everyday when those kids were growing up, and that's what they lived to do with Christmas.

Christmas Eve has always been the best.  These brothers and sister who lived around the midwest all gathered to relive those days of growing up on 26 acre farm in the country.  The turkey and noodles still taste the same, but something is missing.

It has been 21 years since my mom has been with us for her favorite time of year.  It has been six years since we all hopped in our cars and drove to my brother's home where he was three days from leaving us far too soon.  We still gather on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts, share our lives, and remember the ones we desperately wish were there.

Don't make me say the H-word.  I'll do it at work, because I must to not offend the patient.  It takes away the meaning of this time of year from me.  I just won't do it.

It is Christmas.  It always has been and always will be.

I don't care what you think this time... I'm not off base.