THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS

We were walking at an Old Time Christmas celebration…

I was wearing my Santa hat…

It was cold so I had on two coats and a sweater…

I guess I must have looked fat…

I smiled at a little boy walking with his family and when he smiled back he paused…

With his mouth agape he pointed up at me…

“Look Mom and Dad,” he said…”It’s…it’s Santa Claus!”

What is the wonder of Christmas I wonder?  Is it the lights on the Christmas tree?

Is houses lit up with colors, is it time together with family?

Is it decorations, wrapping gifts, the smell of Christmas cookies in the air?

Is it fires in the fireplace, hot chocolate, stockings hung by the chimney with care?

Is it snow, singing Christmas carols, a cup of Christmas cheer?

Is it the stories we’ve heard a thousand times? 

Are these what we hold dear?

The truth is…it is all these things and more 

passed down from parents to daughters and sons…

The truth is the wonder of Christmas is a little different for everyone.

We all remember our Christmases when we were young…

we remember the times and the places… 

We remember the wonder we felt back then…

and we want to recreate that on our children’s faces.

That’s why trees are decorated, gifts are exchanged, 

cookies are baked and carols are sung…

To make Christmas as special for our children…

as it was when we were were young…  

Because the wonder of Christmas is in the faces of children…

it’s in their innocence as they anticipate…

The wonders from our childhood…the traditions we help recreate…

It’s the memories we all carry with us…it’s the memories we have sown

into the hearts and the minds of our children…

To be passed down to families of their own…

“I know you’ve been a good boy this year.” I smiled.

The little boy nodded…his eyes were big and round and blue.

“And you’re going to have a Merry Christmas.” I pattied him on the head,

“It was very nice meeting you.”

I winked at his parents as we walked away and turned around once to see

that little boy walking in the other direction…still staring back at me.

I hope he will remember the wonder of this day…

I hope his memory will be sweet…

and perhaps one day he will tell his children… 

of the night he ran into Santa Claus on the street.