While Thanksgiving is a great holiday, Christmas is without a doubt my favorite. There are so many things that make it special, but it’s the memories of Christmas past that make it No. 1 for me.
We’ve all had a specific Christmas that carries special memories. It’s not always about the gifts you got or didn’t get, but it’s about sharing time with family and friends. Yes, the gifts were great, but in our younger, innocent years, that’s not what made Christmas special.
Every year you got a lot of new stuff, but first you had to make room for the new stuff by getting rid of the things you got the year before. It was a continuous cycle and ritual that you had to go through every Christmas. I remember calling my best friend on Christmas morning and telling him everything I got. But the funny thing about that conversation was the fact that I usually had a hard time remembering what I did get.
As I got older, it made me realize that it wasn’t the gifts that made Christmas special. It was more about all the moments shared with family and friends at parties or driving around town and looking at Christmas lights. It was the food, like my mom’s pecan pie and homemade fruit salad. It was going downtown to see the annual Christmas parade the day after Thanksgiving, which was a great way to kick off the Christmas season.
It was picking out a real tree until our family decided to go the artificial route. I even remember my grandparents having this weird white Christmas tree with a rainbow-colored lamp that rotated different colors onto the tree. I thought it was the worst Christmas tree of all time and whoever came up with this idea should have been taken out behind the woodshed and severely beaten.
But for me, it was more about the anticipation of Christmas Eve and believing that jolly Ol’ Saint Nick was headed my way. It was tuning into the 10 o’clock news that night and watching the Santa tracker as I laid two feet on the floor in front of the TV. Where is he right now and how soon will he be coming to my house?
As a youngster, I was a true believer, but could not wrap my head around how he would get into my house since we did not have a chimney. How was this man, bigger than life, going to enter my house and leave the gifts I so desired and had earned? It’s amazing the imagination you had as a kid and the thought process that went with it.
Finally, the big day arrived after a long and sleepless night trying to hear Santa’s arrival. I remember waking up at 5 a.m. on Christmas morning and having to lie in bed until everyone was up, wondering did the big man leave me the Hot Wheels Track or the Daisy BB gun I requested, or would it be underwear and clothes that I did not request? Did he remember the new bike I desired with the sissy bar and chopper handlebars?
I gave him plenty of options so surely, he left at least one of those! After the gifts were opened and I was dressed for the day, I remember going outside and looking for sleigh marks or deer tracks as proof that he actually came by.
Then the day comes when someone delivers the shocking news that Santa isn’t real! It puts that little bit of doubt in your mind and makes you question Santa’s true existence. They would destroy your beliefs with common sense facts and tell you that the big fat man in the red suit does not exist! They would try to reason with you how impossible it would be for a full-size man who eats nothing but cookies and drinks lots of milk would ever fit down a chimney! It was hard to argue with that.
But, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking the “know it all” kid just might be mistake … or is he? He puts just enough doubt in your mind that you feel that the only way to find out for sure is by asking your mom. Moms never lie and she would never tell you something that’s not true!
Then your mom says to you that it doesn’t matter what anyone says, and tells you to ask yourself, “Do YOU believe?” She never actually answers your question, and she leaves you continuing to think that maybe he is real. This is what keeps the magic of Christmas alive. The one thing I always told my kids as each of them at some point asked the age-old question, “Does Santa really exist?” was, “If you stop believing, he will stop leaving.”
Now the day finally comes when you know the answer, but it sure was a lot more fun when you thought differently and just weren’t quite sure. Your imagination as a child is what made Christmas so special. That’s still the case today, as there’s nothing more fun and exciting than to see that twinkle in kids’ eyes as they see jolly Ol’ Saint Nick.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back in time when all of us had that special believing look in our eye. It’s always fun going back in time and remembering the things that made each Christmas so special. As we get older, we realize that it’s more about the times we share with family and friends that makes Christmas so special.
To each of you, Merry Christmas, and may all your dreams and wishes come true. Remember, believing is not always about seeing.
Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com
To report an issue or typo with this article – CLICK HERE
