Today is my 55th Christmas. Like all the Christmases before, what matters most to me this Christmas Day is connecting with my family. My Mom and Dad gave the stocking above to me at an early age. Personalized with my name, you can see the love and care that went into its creation. From the pink bow on the reindeer to the smoke coming out of the steam train, this stocking connects me to all of my Christmases.
I am fortunate, that both my parents, now in their 80’s are still alive. I spoke with them a couple of hours ago. We now live more than a thousand miles apart, yet that connection is still there today. In the intervening years, we have had three beautiful children—Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen. Behind my stocking, you can see the Christmas stocking we got Jocelyn when she was the same age as I was when I got my first Christmas stocking. Jocelyn is now 23 and for all but one year, we have been together on Christmas day.
When the kids were little, we told them they could get up at any time they liked, open the presents in their Christmas stockings, and then wait until 9:00 am until waking Karalee and I. After staying up late to get everything ready, it was our one morning to be in bed together without having to be up early. Today, it was Karalee and I who were up before 9:00 as Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen didn’t stir until after 11:00. It didn’t matter, as we all gathered together in the living room to share the joy of our bounty opening gifts and glowing in the joy of Christmas.
As the earth rotates, the winter solstice comes and goes in the Northern Hemisphere, and Christmas cycles back into our lives. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of the gifts, but what we really love is the connection from parent to child to parent to child. The wonderment of Christmas returns to our family. We wish that you may be fortunate like us to have the spirit of Christmas return to your family.
