Coffee Dharma

Donning The Christmas Mantle

Posted on 25. Nov, 2007 by Rob in All, Musings, Older

The holiday season is upon us once again. A wonderful Thanksgiving time came and went with more blessing this year than I have seen in quite a while. As we started decorating our home for the coming Christmas I find myself filled with an unfamiliar sentiment and stirring. I have worked in retail and the like a good part of the last couple decades and with being battered with artificial holiday cheer from all sides I found myself less than joyous during these festive seasons. Angry customers, commercialized yuletide greetings, repetitive holiday music, and chaotic finances have usually left me disgruntled about Christmas. I have often spent the holiday alone and therefore was able to easily ignore the season until it had passed.

This year I am with my new family once again and for the first time the memory of commercial Christmas is fading. The decorated tree in our living room stirred fond memories of childhood holidays long forgotten. The biggest turning point this year for me was seeing a spark light up in my sons eyes as the decorations started taking shape. He is now a little over two years old and this is the first year that Christmas actually makes sense to him. His excitement over the impending festivities rekindled something in me that I was surprised to find still existed. I also realized that this year and for many years to come I would have the opportunity to help create powerful holiday memories for my wife and children. The mantle of “Santa” is a surprising and unusual one for me. I find the prospect of this new opportunity both exciting and feverish. I am once again being given the chance to see the world through a child’s eyes. It is a season full of twinkling lights, intoxicating smells, sounds of wonderment and the feeling that something special is coming. This year I look forward to this holiday with glee. This Christmas is for my family in every way, yet in that it is has done something special to me. I will dream of the wide eyes of my son on Christmas morning. I will once again truly have a Merry Christmas.

Tags: Christmas, Holiday, Life, Musings