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Dec 20, 2011

The Ghost of Christmas Past

I'm confessing that I’ve always been a little obsessed with Christmas (but you probably would have guessed that anyway if you read my posts from the last couple of weeks). Not only did I like to have own little live tree in my bedroom when I was a kid, I liked to be in charge. This completely irritated my dad who also had a huge desire to run the show…hmmm…we must be related! I thought it would be fun to link up with Shell today while I pour my heart out about holidays past.

I would work for weeks planning our Christmas Eve program for our family. Sometimes we could get Grandma and Grandpa to come over, but Grandpa usually preferred his own comfortable chair is his own little house to the chaos and confusion at ours.

I guess I was a little bossy back then because I convinced my oldest sister to play the piano while I led the singing. Sometimes I could get my oldest brother to pull out his guitar and play something too. I always assigned myself a solo, generally O Holy Night. Not exactly like angels, but I loved singing in front of a captive audience. I typed everything out in program format on my mom’s old manual typewriter but since those were still the days of carbon paper, I typed each person their own copy. Since I had to henpeck them, it took me several hours and many ruined sheets of paper before I was satisfied. But it was worth it! I loved Christmas and like Clark (from Christmas Vacation), I wanted everything to be perfect.
One of the highlights was coercing my dad and my two oldest brothers to sing “We Three Kings.” The whole family looked forward to this because my dad wasn’t much into singing, so it was a treat. They sang the first verse together, then Dad sang the “Gold” verse, New Zealand sang “Frankincense” and Japan finish up with “Myrrh.”

Then my three youngest siblings became Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus. Sometimes we used a doll and one of them had to be the donkey. My two oldest brothers are my only two siblings that live out of state. Sadly, when Dad led the singing at the Christmas party on Sunday, he might have been able to sing his verse, but when he pointed to my youngest brother to cue him up, he had a totally blank look on his face. He was only twelve when I got married so his days as Joseph didn’t adequately prepare him to sing about Frankincense or Myrrh. Dad looked confused until I reminded him that I have been married for 28 years now.

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The years slip by so quickly and I still love Christmas! I love the parties and the presents, the love and kindness that seems to manifest itself everywhere you look…the silly sappy Christmas movies that my sweetie watches EVERY night while he exercises to keep off the yummy treats that are always a part of every celebration. Thanks for letting me share my Christmases, both past and present with you! That’s the only thing that could possibly make them better.

12 comments:

  1. HEY! I'm not Ebenezer Scrooge!

    --Dog Walker

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  2. I love Christmas too! I love the whole month preceeding it as well, all the preparation and baking and planning! The whole thing just delights me!

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  3. I have loved Christmas in the past. Seeing it through my son's eyes makes me love it even more.

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  4. I can picture you doing that- and I think I did similiar things as a kid- just not quite to that extent.

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  5. Your poor dad! It's crazy how quickly time goes by!

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  6. I love Christmas time, I'm not ready for it to be over, I love the lights, the festive air, the music, just all it encompasses.

    Merry Christmas!!

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  7. I love reading of your Christmas past. I am smiling and loving Christmas time too.
    Blessings to you and keep on enjoying those precious Christmas moments.

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  8. Merry Christmas to you!

    Sounds like some lovely Christmas memories.

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  9. I have decided that it is time for me and my husband to move close to you and adopt ourselves into your family! It sounds like you all have some great traditions and know how to have a good time!

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  10. I could see my boys all wanting to be the donkey! LOL

    I love Christmas. A little stressed to be so behind on things, but still love it.

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  11. Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday. I love it. The one holiday I choose to decorate and go all out. It's okay to have a favorite. Just something about this season and the month that makes it magical.

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