Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas Morning Magic

Christmas 2010.....A White Christmas, a little snow to give us that "post card" Christmas feeling.

As the ghost of Christmas Past brings back the memories of when Christmas mornings were filled with the sounds of happy, excited children, noisy gift wrap being torn from unexpected surprises and Christmas list wishes were brought to life, I think about how different Christmas morning is when there are no longer small children, no longer the magical wide-eyed wonder, no longer the trying to stay awake until the last eye is closed so "Santa" can leave the visions of sugar-plums under the tree.........

In the early years with the boys, the lists were always made early in the fall, then an extra job was necessary in order to fill those lists. On Sunday after Thanksgiving the Christmas tree went up and the anticipation started up as well. Wants and wishes changed daily as commercials and ads flashed before their innocent eyes and convinced them this was the latest and best and they had to have it. Christmas Eve and bedtime was always hard...the excitement seemed to hold those little eyes open and those little hearts racing, making for a late night and then a very early morning.......then along came our little girl and wide-eyed wonderment took on a whole new meaning! Christmas morning was centered around her squeals and giggles....watching her open her gifts filled the morning and everyone was exhausted by the time the long awaited nap-time came so we all could rest. As the boys grew older,  their Christmas gifts soon consisted of guy gear and the latest electronics, but for a few more years, toys were back on the list and so was the magic of Christmas morning.

As the years passed and life brought on change, the boys grew up, the little girl was joined by a little brother and the magic of Christmas morning continued....

This year we were blessed with a White Christmas and the only sounds on Christmas morning were the whispering snow flakes as they fell on a quiet, sleepy little home where a sleeping teenager had to be awakened to open his gifts of guy gear and the latest electronics. The gifts were opened without the squeals, without the giggles, without the fanfare of Christmas mornings past.....but somehow there was still a little magic in the air. I'm not sure if it was the falling snow or if I saw it in the smiles and heard it in the giggles and squeals of our grandchildren as they told us about their Christmas morning surprises.

Merry Christmas