'Tis The Season

For as long as I can remember, I have loved “The Holidays”. By that I refer to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years collectively. I love that special something that makes a person want to smile and call out a greeting to a stranger. Neighbors that you don’t take the time to speak to the rest of the year (everyone is so busy with their own lives) suddenly find themselves calling out a friendly greeting. “Have a nice Thanksgiving”, Merry Christmas”, “Happy New Year”, you hear it everywhere you go.

As a child I loved the way friends would stop by for snacks and coffee or a drink. Even late in the evening when all us little one were sent to bed, I would lay there lessening to the adults in the other room laughing and talking and I would feel all jittery with excitement for the wonder of the season. From about a week before Thanksgiving through New News Day the feeling would almost be more than I could stand. I wondered if a person could die of happiness.

Some times there were also family from out of town. We would get the extra bedding and if it had been a while sense it had been used Mom would have my sister and I help hang it out on the line to air. It would be brought in after a few hours smelling fresh and get folded up and left handy so the sofa could be made up and sleeping bags would be used in our bedrooms as extra room for cozens. We always dibbed the bags and left our nice freshly made up beds for company. It usually took some hard desisting to decide just who had to sleep in the beds. It didn’t really matter; we didn’t get a lot of sleeping done. Mom or Dad would come to the door a few times and let us know that we were too loud and we needed to get to sleep.

When I first got married I moved away from family and friends. It was so exciting meshing the traditions of our two very different families and making what survived our own family’s way of celebrating. I also had to adjust to city life instead of the easygoing, small town ways that I grew up with. Even though I was hundreds of miles from where I grew up I was happy to find that the magic was still there. It had followed me!

When my children grew up and left home to start their own traditions I was afraid that the feelings would change. I expected it to be a sad time, or at the least, not as exciting. But I’m happy to report that the magic of the season is still very much alive and well in this Great grand mother.