A Trip Down Christmas Lane....

I don't know exactly why, maybe it's all the ornaments the children made over the years, but the Christmas season always makes me nostalgic. You too? Memories of digging up our tree (yes, we dug it up and replanted it long before the word "environmentalist" had been conceived - it was called being cheap smart with your money), shopping for my Dad's present to Mom at roughly 4:50pm on Christmas Eve (the stores closed at 5pm), and sleeping on the floor all night so I would wake as early as possible on Christmas morning (I think our earliest was 2am, our latest about 5am? Isn't that right Joye??!). It's a wonder my parents didn't cancel Christmas!! One of the clearest memories of Christmas is when I was 12 and we had just moved into a new house with new appliances. I woke my Mom at exactly 2:48 A.M. in a panic because the oven power was ON!! No, I didn't check to see if the oven was hot. No, I had never heard of this thing called delayed cooking. No, I didn't want to be tanned and would lie back down (beside the tree of course!!).

Did your Santa come wrapped? Ours did. It wasn't until after I was a parent and my dear hubby asked what planet was I from that I actually realized there might be a easier better way. My favorite present? A chemistry set. Yep. I think I was probably the first female to earn the title of geek. But it really was my childhood favorite. Because it was what I wanted and didn't think I would get. Because no one else thought I'd get it (in a "you'll put your eye out, Ralphie" sort of way.) Because it affirmed to me that I had parents who actually loved me for who I was and not what everyone told me I should be/not be.

My favorite Christmas? This one, of course. Memory lane is beautiful but today I can give hugs and love and laughter that will make beautiful memories for tomorrow. Presents will come and go, memories will last for a while but love will never end. Enjoy, savor, laugh and cry with those you love today. And as Lea says so beautifully, "Have a fine day, all day long."