Have a Wonderful Christmas Time . . . .

I've been hearing Paul McCartney's song "Wonderful Christmas Time" more and more on the radio and in stores the past few years. I like it because it is not only upbeat but because it speaks of a simple Christmas time. A kind of Christmas for which many of us of a certain wish to reconnect. A time when . . . .

The moon is right
The spirits up
We're here tonight
And that's enough

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
Simply having a wonderful Christmastime

 

 

Please note that I have not forgotten the real story of Christmas . . .  the Birth of Jesus and all that includes. But there is something about the Christmas season but my mind darts in and out of the past and the present. Christmas time is a time when at lease for me nostalgia takes over.  Others are franticly running through stores and there I am lost in the fifties seeing myself standing by what I now know was a pretty sparse tree but at the time seemed so impressively full wearing a pair of matching cap-pistols, boots, chaps

I'll be walking through a store at the local shopping mall to pick up my new eye glasses and suddenly I'll have a flashback to being at the Sears Store on Southmore sandwiched between Shaver and Main Streets. Right now, as I write I can see myself and my Father on Christmas Eve walking in the Main Street side of the store with me in tow past the tools and lawn equipment toward the escalators in the middle of the store. On my left we pass the candy island with its potpourri of smells and nuts . . . so many nuts . . . I just loved it. We're on a mission, Christmas is tomorrow and we still haven't gotten Mom anything for Christmas. In later years he'd later do the same with my sister.

I used to wonder why Dad always waited to the last minute to take care of this most important of tasks. I would learn years later that it was procrastination as much as it was economic. You see Mom and Dad waited until all of the things my sister and I were going to receive before they turn to each other.

You see Dad was a self-employed auto mechanic and Christmas time was  a tough time for families who made their livings in the auto repair business unless of course the economy was in a down turn. People put off as much auto repair as they could n favor of spending their money on Christmas gifts. He'd work harder at Christmas "hustling-up" work than any other time of the year just to make sure we all got something under the tree. Mom always spent much of the year putting aside a Christmas "nest egg." 

One of the things that made that Christmas Eve mission so urgent was not just that we had to find just the right gift for mom that we could afford but we also had to be at our big family reunion at my Aunt Mae's house.

That gathering was important to me as was our own on Christmas morning. All the extended family would be there. All my aunts and uncles and cousins. Mae's house had that distinct smell that I call "the smell of Christmas." Some years we exchanged "white Elephant" gifts  but every year it was a time when we were all present and filled with uplifted spirits (not to mention Christmas treats) and "that was enough." Add to that the singing of carols and Christmas songs and stories of Christmas past many of which were about family members no longer with us and how they touched our lives.

We always ended that evening with someone reading the Christmas story from the King James Bible. The story just reads better from that version. I remember the last Christmas eve we spent at Mae's. It was the last one we would have and as had become the tradition by then I was reading the Christmas story. That Christmas was a sad one in many way because those of us able to be there knew it would be the last. Mae, the last of my Dad's siblings was confined to bed and in the slow process of dying. I remember asking her if she'd like me to read the Christmas Story for her and as we gathered around her bed I began to recite . . . "And in those days there went out a decree . . . ." Even that Christmas was a "Wonderful Christmas Time."  It was different from years prior but wonderful none-the-less.

All I know is that through all of that we always had a "Wonderful Christmastime" because our spirits were always up and we were all together.  I think that is still what makes Christmas so special . . .  our spirits are up and we are all together.

A lot of time has passed since those days. We have celebrated Christmas more than 60 times since the last time Dad and I rushed through Sears looking for that perfect gift for Mom. The store is closed, the city has changed, many of the family have stepped out into eternity since then but Christmas has never lost its appeal to me.. Some were in times of plenty and some were during seasons of want. But all of them were times together and with up-lifted spirits.

 The moon is right
The spirits up
We're here tonight
And that's enough

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
Simply having a wonderful Christmastime

Now here's the really odd part of all this. For some reason my mind has done another one of those flashback things and I find myself thinking of the people with whom I went to public school.  So, while it is on my mind I want to send out to all the members of my high school graduating class (PHS class of '65) special Christmas wishes. A lot of Christmases have come an gone since we walked across that makeshift stage at The old Memorial Stadium.

During that time some took and early departure from us and shall remain ever young in our hearts and minds. But for most of us time would march on and we would marry have children and our lives would generally go in a myriad of directions and we'd each celebrate Christmas with our own developing traditions. Some of you will be surrounded by family and/or friends while others might spend the day alone. Some will be spending your first Christmas without your spouse of many years. I know because I follow many of you on Facebook.  I know Susan and I will pretty much spend Christmas with just the two of us. We will celebrate a family Christmas on the 21st.- ironically my Dad's birthday - he'd be 102 were he living.  Remember, as time passes you will realize they have left you more than has been taken from you.

First I want to apologize to many of you who graduated with me back in 1965 that I did not take the time to get to know you better when we were growing up. It was my loss and I truly regret it. I really do wish I had know you all better. Worse yet, he said with tongue in cheek, you didn't get to know me either. I know, it would not have been possible for all of us to know each other really well but I think I, at least for one, could have and should have done better. Thank you for being a part of the Tapestry of my life.  Then I want to say from the bottom of my heart that I wish for you and yours a "Wonderful Christmas Time."

 To the rest of you who became a part of my life over the years I want to say the very same thing to you . . . . Merry Christmas.

 

The moon is right

The spirits up

We're here tonight

And that's enough

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime