The Magic Of Christmas

Is Christmas going to be hard for me this year? Yes, of course, but I'm not going to focus on that, I'm going to help spread some magic instead. Christmas is a celebration that life never truly ends. That love holds so much magic, anything is possible. That love, real love, can lift us up, move mountains, and quiet chaos. Christmas reminds us to dust off the better angels of our nature, take them out of the basement, turn them loose and allow them to take over for a while. So, I've decided to focus on the love and magic of Christmas instead.

I LOVE Christmas, I always have done. Everything about it was magical. Growing up, Christmas meant that my family did things together as a family, and since we weren't those people, that seemed magical to me. My Dad proudly displayed his inner Elvis impersonator as he twanged his way through every song on the radio during the two-hour Christmas Eve road trip to Granny's house. And he always swore he saw the lights of Santa's sleigh somewhere along the way. We believed him. I remember the panic one year when we couldn't get back home and I just knew Santa would skip us because I wasn't in my bed. We came home to bikes and an Easy Bake Oven! Years later I found out my dad called my uncle who set up everything for us, but my dad showed his love the way that he could, what's that if not magic? Isn't it funny that what you can see so clearly as a child gets distorted as you grow up?

My Mom went out of her way to make the house magical too. As a child, it seemed to be a Fairy Tale Castle of lights, tinsel, and sugar rushes. She gave me a lifelong love of stockings that I've passed on to my family. My first colored nail polish, my first mascara, and my first piece of real jewelry came to me through my stocking. But for me, the most important was the annual grapefruit and Brazil nuts. I know that I must have received grapefruit throughout the year, but you know, I don't remember any of them. When I told that story to Mark in our first year of marriage, he always made sure that I had a grapefruit Christmas morning, even if he just pulled it out of the fridge. Later when he lost his sight, he would send one of the kids to get it. What was important to me, became imperative to him. That's the magic of love.

I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas growing up, but what I've brought forward with me is the love, wonder, security, and belief that all is right in the world, at least for one night. We will continue to hold the magic of Christmas in our hearts. Mark won't be with us, but the magic survives, although it may be slightly dimmer this year. But maybe not. We'll still make cookies, ornaments, and gifts. We'll release our better angels out into the world and hope to do some good. We'll look at lights, see who can achieve the first hot chocolate overdose, laugh together, and display our own inner Elvis talents. The kids will feel the magic. We'll send Mark love, lots of love, and the magic of Christmas will power our belief that he's sending it right back.

We Believe in Christmas

Merry Christmas to All

-Chris