Dad’s Christmas Legacy To Me

My Dad loved Christmas and his love for the holidays colored my childhood and has stayed with me.  He would put up the Christmas tree complete with twinkling white lights and play Christmas music throughout the holiday season and beyond.  Many times the artificial tree would stay up past little Christmas (January 6th) simply because it brought him peace and joy.

Our childhood home was full of nostalgia – precious ornaments from his childhood that he’d inherited from his parents.  Our stockings were hung by the fireplace of his childhood home where we also grew up, filled with many of his family heirlooms.  The manger we had was his parents’ and the old train which circled the tree was his childhood treasure.

I remember him sitting quietly in the living room with the only lights on being those on the tree and Christmas music playing on the stereo.  In that serenity he would relax into a calm that was enticing and I find myself often during the Christmas season doing exactly the same.  There’s something about Christmas that brings gratitude to the surface, brings magic to the air and healing to those who seek peace.

I remember his father’s favorite song was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas which as a child, I learned to play on the piano.  My Dad would pass by as I was practicing sometimes and request it and of course, I would play it for him.  While I didn’t understand why he wanted me to play his father’s favorite carol and not his own, as an adult and a parent and missing my deceased Dad, I understand.

Christmas can be full of hustle and bustle and sometimes fraught with family plans that keep us busier than we’d like.  My remedy is simply to carve out some special quiet time to feed your soul with the goodness of love.  Hold your loved ones close.  Remember those who have passed.  Be grateful for all that you have.  Enjoy the magic of little ones and Santa, but remember the blessings that His birth has given to us.  Lift your voice to sing those carols and hymns.  Find your childhood nostalgia and feel the blessings.  Look around at those whom you encounter and smile.  Share the kindness in your heart.  Embrace those that may not have family nearby.  Open your homes and hearts.  Love finds a way to heal us all when we allow it.  Angels are everywhere – just keep looking!

May you find peace, healing, joy and hope during the Christmas season this year.  May you take the needed time to relax and to sit quietly watching the twinkling lights with a heart full of the magic of this special season.  May you find comfort in nostalgia and strolling down memory lane.  May you find the stars shine brighter for you in the night sky, twinkling their messages of love to you and yours.

May you keep your heartlights shining for all to see!

Shine On!

xo