It has started. It always starts the same way. Mid afternoon on a Christmas eve day Magic creeps into my house like a shy little mouse. Creeping along slowly but surely and I pause to listen and to feel. Yes, it’s true it’s happening again. Only this year the feeling is stronger than it has been for many years. It has started and it will continue to grow with a sweet calling, a calling to me to give thanks, once again, for the Magic that is Christmas.It has always been this way for me. Ever since I was a tiny little girl, first realizing what Christmas was all about. I remember being in the play at church and always being some animal. I never got to be Mary. I wondered about that then, now I know why that roll was never given to me. But still, just to be a part of that scene was really all I cared about. Actually, I liked the cookies and the candy canes we got after the service was over.
Then I remember walking home through the Salem Common, in the cold and snow, we didn’t have a car and knowing that when I got home the magic would have already started. I knew it instantly when I walked through the door of my Nani’s apartment. The smells were palatable. Pumpkin, spices and all the ingredients of her famous Tomato Soup cake. You only got it at Christmas and it had real Cream Cheese frosting. I couldn’t wait to get a taste of that. My favorite Christmas treat. But not tonight.....tomorrow. And if you even dared to try and touch it, she would crack your hands.
It was the only night of the year that I didn’t mind bedtime. I figured the quicker I got to bed the quicker tomorrow would come. I could feel that magic feeling getting stronger by the minute. The darker it got the stronger and more excited I got. I would lay in my bed, happy as could be, knowing that good things were going to happen. You see, we didn’t get things all year long, my Mom didn’t have the money, but some how, she performed a miracle each Christmas morning. The four of us would wake up, run into the den, no living room then, and there on the chair, would be my Christmas gifts. Two items of clothing and two toys. My world was complete. Oh and I should tell you about my stocking. It always had an orange and something from Avon in it. I thought that was so special.
As I grew older and had my own house and children the magic never went away. As a matter of fact it intensified. All month long I would decorate, cook, shop and enjoy my children, thinking of the excitement once again of a Christmas morning. But how could it compete with the joy of being a kid in my Mom’s house. Of the one waiting for Santa and getting the toys and smelling that Tomato soup cake. How could it ever be That good again. But it was even more magical and special. You see this is when I learned the real lessons of giving. It wasn’t about me and Santa and my Mom anymore, it was about me and Santa and my kids. It was about the real joy. The joy of giving to my kids. The magic now came in their little faces on Christmas morning. It was watching them go through the season full of excitement and
expectation. It was about the lesson of love each year, when after all the gifts were wrapped, all the food was cooked and both of the kids were in bed , dreaming of sugar plums that I would feel the Magic in my house.
I would sit on my couch, in my living room. Peaceful and quiet and a fire in the fireplace. The air changed, spirits entered and I knew, Christmas was here for sure. It surrounded me, this Magic. I was a believer and I knew deep in my soul that the Gift was arriving. It was here, in my heart. I felt joy like at no other time. And a tradition was started. For more than 25 years, every Christmas eve after the kids are gone to bed, to this very day, when the Magic enters , Jim and I dance. We dance to Kenny Rogers Greatest Gift of All. That is my magic and my gift. The words express everything I feel and to me it is the true spirit of Christmas.
Now, we have the Magic and the Miracle of Liam. He brings a renewed joy to our house. He brings the magic back in a different form. He is love and that is what this season is all about. It’s what every day should be about. I hope as he moves through his life, with his Mom and Dad, that he to, will feel the magic of Christmas in the air on Christmas eve as it slowly builds and then culminates on Christmas Day. I hope that he will take a moment to sit and be still and to listen to the joy that is in his heart, because you see, that is really where the Magic comes from.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a very Magical Goodnight.
December 24, 2010
2 Comments
Holly
Your writings are beautiful, and I want to thank you for the joy you bring to my heart each time I read one. I am so blessed to have you as a friend in my life. Merry, Merry Christmas...xo
Saturday, December 25, 2010 - 08:49 PM
Cheryl
Thanks Holly. You are a most favorite and faithful friend. I hope your day was perfect. I love you and will see you soon.
Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 07:02 PM