I Remember Christmas

December 3, 2011 

 

For anyone over age thirty who grew up in a loving American family, I’m sure you have realized by now the powerful impact early childhood memories can have throughout the duration of a human life.  From those memories, memories of childhood Christmases will no doubt be among the most profound for the vast majority of us.

 

As we grow older, memories tend to fade to make room for new memories.  A small percentage of memories tend to be strong enough to survive the purging process.  For those of us who are lucky enough, most of the surviving memories are going to be happy memories associated with a secure and loving environment experienced during the earliest years of our lives.

 

I am now 47 years old.  My memory banks are filled to capacity.  Sometimes, I can hardly remember what happened last week let alone 40 years ago.  There are, however, a surprising number of memories I have from my childhood and, for me, most of them are related to one Christmas or another.

 

I remember my father bringing the often-wet Christmas tree into our house to set it in its stand.  After that, the whole family would set about decorating the tree.  The colored light bulbs were quite large by today’s standard.  Even larger light bulbs, if my memory is serving me right, were used in the outdoor lights that my father would mount on the edge of our front roof.   The tree, with its unmistakably wonderful, fresh-pine smell, would have some traditional family ornaments hung on its branches along with garland wrapped around the entirety of the tree.  The tricky part of decorating our tree, however, was placing the tinsel on the branches in such a way that they looked more like icicles than a rat’s nest.

 

I remember singing Christmas carols at the very public Mechanicville Elementary School.  To this day, I know all the words to the most-loved, traditional carols we used to learn in school.  We even learned the words to the main Latin verse of “O Come All Ye Faithful”, or “Adeste Fideles”.

 

I remember going to “Midnight Mass” at St. Luke’s Church in the small city of Mechanicville, New York.  I remember the monotone singing voice of Father Kaulfuss.  I remember the stained-glass windows being black, which was very strange to me since I was used to seeing them only in their majestic colors brought out by sunlight.  One particular Midnight Mass stands out among the several others.  When we left for the mass, there wasn’t a flake of snow to be seen, either in the air or on the ground.  Once Mass had ended and we walked outside to go home, the ground was covered with snow and the flakes were falling at a magically steady pace.

 

I remember being in the car as we drove home from Midnight Mass and I would look at the lit Christmas trees in all the neighbor’s windows to see if Santa Clause had arrived at any nearby houses yet.

 

I remember being sent to bed but being far too excited to sleep.  I would stare out my bedroom window for what seemed like hours hoping to get a glimpse of Santa and his reindeer in flight.

 

I remember thinking about sneaking out to the barn at midnight to see if animals really could talk as the tales said they could.  Of course, for a child, the difference between 11:00 pm and midnight seemed like an eternity and I would always fall asleep long before the stroke of midnight.

 

I remember the excitement of waking up early on Christmas morning and wondering if Santa really came.  As I walked down the stairs, I can recall seeing the soft and colorful light from the family Christmas tree reflecting on the otherwise dark walls of the stairway.  Once we reached the bottom four or five steps, we could see far enough into the living room to know that Santa really had come.  For my first handful of Christmases, Santa would set the gifts out completely unwrapped and ready for action.  As I got older, he decided to start wrapping them (probably a request made by my parents to prevent the chaos that naturally ensued once there was six of us coming down those stairs).

 

Whenever I think back on those childhood memories of Christmas, I get an incredible sense of warmth and feeling safe and secure.  Now that I am older, I look at those wonderful memories from a very different perspective.  I notice that people in America definitely change their outlook toward one another during the Christmas Season (approximately Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day).  I strongly believe it is childhood memories that bring about such a change in people and that the joy experienced by so many people at the same time every year is a primary cause for the notable change in attitudes.

 

Once we become parents, it is imperative that we realize we are now the builders of those memories in our own children.  To some degree, we create those memories for them subconsciously.  To really protect those memories for many generations to come, however, is going to take a conscious effort.  The world is evolving.  America is evolving.  Can we afford to let either evolve without protecting the very precious nature of childhood memories?  Is there anything that can replace the vividly pleasurable memories of a childhood Christmas?

 

What kind of memories do we want to burn into the limited memory banks of our own children and grandchildren?  It is not a trivial decision to make, so do not take the responsibility lightly.  The memories you make for them in their earliest years of life will have a lasting impact on them as well as generations that follow.

 

The United States of America recognizes Christmas as one of ten national holidays.  The many benefits this holiday brings to this country, whether a person celebrates for religious reasons or non-religious reasons, makes Christmas one of the most worthy holidays to celebrate in America.  So, let’s continue to celebrate Christmas in the finest of American tradition and let’s not underestimate its value to our cultural wellbeing.

 

In closing this year’s message, I certainly hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season but, above all, I want to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas!!!