Today I am feeling particularly thankful for fond childhood memories, and also for family..and well, just our life in general. They are most definitely walking hand-in-hand through my mind today as I begin to shift myself into holiday mode. As several of my friends are celebrating checking off the final items on their Christmas shopping lists (yeah, I don't know how these highly organized, highly motivated people manage to tolerate being friends with me!) I am just beginning...ever so slowly...to get into the Christmas spirit. Part of that is actually because I really like Christmas to feel like Christmas...including the shopping and wrapping...so doing it all before December 1st really would kind of kill it for me, I'm afraid. But, that's a different post entirely...
Today, as I was driving and listening to the 'sounds of the season', a Perry Como song came on and I was nearly completely overcome by nostalgia. Seriously...I suddenly felt so emotional I thought I might need to pull over the car and have a good cry. Out of nowhere I was flooded with memories of my Grandma, in particular, and her jolliness, her crinkly smile (and I don't just mean wrinkles...her cheeks literally made a crinkly noise when she smiled) and the good smells and feeling of her house, with her little Christmas tree sitting in the bay window. I remembered listening to Christmas records on her ginormous stereo console record player, and her sweet homemade aprons. I remembered shopping in downtown Pottstown at McCrory's, and how every Christmas she had these chewy red and white mints with a Christmas tree in the middle and ribbon candies...
And then I also thought about the memories I am currently making with my family. I thought about how someday, what I am living right now will be 'the good 'ol days'...and my kids will look back and laugh and say "remember when...". It was the most bizarre thing...it was like I was watching a movie in my mind, where they zoom out, and in the shot you can watch the family bustling about inside a house... I was getting a panoramic shot of my life and thinking, "Wow. I am really, really blessed!"
Blessed, not just at Christmas...but as I drove by our baseball field, I thought about how much I love spending warm summer evenings there. And the friends we've made as our kids play on teams together. As I drove past my daughter's school, I thought about all the fun we have attending her concerts and school musicals. As I drove past our former pastor's house, I thought about all the ways we've been blessed by people that have poured into our lives. All these things together make up....well...life. And let me tell you...it really IS 'A Wonderful Life"...
So, as I finally join the rest of the crowd moving into the holidays, I'm going to try to remember that all of the 'stuff' that goes along with this season isn't just about my to-do list. It's about the time and enjoyment that goes into making the memories that will last, not only my lifetime, but that maybe will even outlast me, like the stories of my Grandma that I tell my kids. Like Christmas nougats and ribbon candies. And laughter and twinkling lights and Love. And that is the stuff that heritages are made of. That is good stuff.
2 comments:
I remember those candies at Grandma's too! Good memories! Thanks for sharing!
You made me cry!
Post a Comment