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"It’s Beginning
To Look A Lot Like Christmas"
My wife is really getting
into the Christmas spirit. She, my daughter in law, and
my granddaughter went shopping last weekend and had a
ball. They left at nine-thirty in the morning and didn’t
return until seven that night. They were tired, worn out
and full of the Christmas spirit. I got tired just
hearing about it all.
This morning my wife and
I went out bike shopping for our grandchildren. I had
suggested we let my son and daughter in law find the
right bikes and then just tell us how much we owed them.
When I made this suggestion my wife fixed me with a
stare that would have frozen a lesser man at twenty
paces. Obviously she did not consider this a good
suggestion.
Did you know bikes come
in a variety of sizes? For my granddaughter we needed as
eighteen inch one with training wheels. For my grandson
we needed a sixteen inch one with training wheels. We
found all sizes except these so we are still bikeless.
My wife’s enthusiasm never wavered. She just said we
would have to look in other stores, in other cities. I
can see trips to New York and LA looming in the
distance.
When we asked my youngest
son what he wanted for Christmas he quickly responded,
"No clothes!" This has been his answer since
he was three, and now he is thirty. He wants gadgets and
gizmos, anything electronic or computerized.
My oldest son just got
married this year and his head is still so far into the
clouds I don’t think he is even aware it is Christmas.
But when he does become aware that Christmas is in the
offing, I think he will be fine with clothes because he
is now more practical than he used to be.
My wife and I will
probably give each other a trip to the beach following
Christmas. That is what we usually do. I want to save
whatever money she was going to spend on me and put it
towards getting our kitchen redone this summer. That’s
old practical me. My real Christmas present is just
having the boys and their families home for Christmas.
I am not a big Christmas
person. I like the routine days of life and not the
holidays. Still this year seeing the house decorated so
bright and sparkly stirs something within my soul. Plus
we went to our church cantata this past Sunday afternoon
and the beauty of the singing lifted me up to heights of
enjoyment I hadn’t felt in ages.
Also a few days ago my
wife took our granddaughter to the Hay House in Macon
for a tea party and a carriage ride. Genna, my
granddaughter, put on the dress she had worn as the
flower girl in my son JJ’s wedding. Terry curled her
hair and even bought a fake fur wrap to go around her
shoulders. She really did look like a fairy princess,
and her excitement was contagious.
Things seem to be
brighter this year than ever before and the warmth of
the Christmas message is filling my heart. Could it be
that after all these years I am finally beginning to
understand what the Christmas spirit is all about? Maybe
so. And if so, it is about time.
I still don’t feel the
need to ride around looking at Christmas lights, and I
do think I will scream if they play "Feliz Nadvidad"
one more time. But when I look into my grandchildren’s
eyes and see the joy and excitement of Christmas there,
well I think I melt a little more every day.
And with that in mind I
wish you all a very Merry Christmas! |
