Merry Christmas Everyone!

"And so this is Christmas and what have you done?
Another year over, another just begun" (John Lennon)

I love this time of year - I admit I'm captivated by all the trimmings and I am out there with every other shopper crossing names off my list. But I also love this passage from the Grinch :

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold on the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
"It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

In an age of excess and abundance where big is better, it's the quiet moments that have meant the most to me. For me, these revolve around family and a few close friends. Here they are, in no particular order :
making Christmas cookies with my grand niece - they aren't perfect but they are flavoured with love
a moonlight tour of a old village with someone dear to me
holding hands in the winter moonlight
a photo with Santa with my 2 old friends
a late-night fire, a Christmas tree, and Frank Sinatra singing in the background
a trumpet and drums during midnight mass with surprise company
visiting with my Aunt and hearing stories about my dad I never knew
watching White Christmas with my sister and singing "Sisters" along with Rosemary Clooney and Vera Lang
having my grand niece home from the hospital
being invited to a family Christmas dinner in Brantford
a little bear photograph
2 homemade gifts to me - one made of wood, the other on paper

No, Christmas doesn't come from a store but is a little bit more. What makes Christmas special are those moments given and received with love. Sharing, giving, kindness, remembrance, family, friends, hope, peace, friendship. These are the true gifts of Christmas and I have been richly blessed. They are the gift of the Magi. Merry Christmas to all!

Miss M.