When Christmas Happens

I never know the exact moment when Christmas happens for me. It could be the day I trim the tree, the afternoon I settle in with Victoria’s A Woman’s Christmas, or the private moment driving home from work when I notice the Christmas lights for the first time. I only know it’s at that very moment that Christmas happens and all the wonderful things about the season begin to surround me like a warm cozy blanket.

I get misty and giddy by turns when I think of all the happy Christmases I had at my grandmother’s, the wonderful little things my mother did for us that made us wiggle with delight, the neighbors who always visited on Christmas Eve, the majesty of attending our church’s midnight mass, the carols I sang my heart out with the girl scouts. All those things made Christmas happen to my little girl heart.

Then there were the years I lived with him, when I decorated our house with abandon and had the money to do so. I still recall the teddy bear he gave me with the new pearl earrings in its newly pierced and furry ears. Later the years my darling daughter sang in the church choir and made cookies with me, both of us in our bunny slippers, made Christmas happen and come in a rush.

My memories of the Christmases of yore by no means diminsh the Chrismas of now or the ones in the future. I just never know when that magical moment will kick in and Christmas, the holiday I wait for all year, suddenly and joyously, happens!