Christmas Eve Again

Last weekend, we had dinner at our neighbor’s house.    They had Sirius XM on playing traditional Christmas music and it was just what I needed to get me in the mood for Christmas.   Oh, yes, I had put up our tree and the lighted wreath on the front door,  And ordered (on Amazon) gifts for the grandkids.  In my family we all buy stocking stuffers for each other now that we know Santa doesn’t do it and I’m done with that (almost).  But until I start playing my Christmas soundtrack in the car as I’m driving or or on earbuds as I’m working out, I can’t really find the Christmas spirit.

And here it is, Christmas Eve Again and 77 years of beautiful Christmas Eve memories can make me nostalgic.   Going out with my Dad to pick up presents from the relatives.  The smell of Mom’s cooking filling the house.  Caroling with the neighbors and neighborhood kids.  Christmas Eve with our best friends in California, two families-worth of presents piled high, making it look like Santa just dumped his sleigh.   Christmas with the grandkids, first in Arizona, and now, in Utah where we live five minutes from them.  They are big kids now and they get big kid presents, which isn’t quite as much fun as the mountain of toys.   But I love it still.   And I am an old man, now … Christmas spirit doesn’t just arrive with the decorations going up in the stores.   I have to work at it.   Too many loved ones, friends and family who are part of my Christmas nostalgia, are gone or far away.  And once again, we are wondering … mask of no mask … travel or no travel … as something called omicron crashes our Christmas Eve.  I need something to prevent the onset of a Melancholy Christmas.  And, as with the rest of my life, the key is music, Christmas carols to be specific.   O Holy Night.  Jingle Bell Rock.  White Christmas.   A lifetime in a Christmas Eve soundtrack.  And I’m on the way to a Merry Christmas.

But memories and nostalgia for those we won’t see tomorrow is part of the holiday, and permeates many of our Christmas songs, none more than I’ll Be Home for Christmas.  I love the classic, Bing Crosby’s version but this one by Sarah McLochlan really touches my heart.

I hear that iconic lyric … I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams … and I’m singing along with a tear in my eye.   Have a Very Merry Christmas Eve … and stop back tomorrow if you’ve got a minute for something more upbeat.

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Tags: Christmas, family, friends, music, nostalgia

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