Childlike Innocence

It is less than 20 days before Christmas Day.  Everything is shiny and glittery which adds a magical glow to our home.  I love to sit at night with all the lights out except for the trees.  It reminds me of being a little girl dreaming of Christmas morning.

There were several years when I was growing up that we did not have a TV.  We had a record player and an imagination.  We lived above the church in a very small apartment at the time.  Five kids, two adults in a 3 bedroom apartment that would fit in my downstairs now.  I think my downstairs is actually bigger than the church apartment.  There were times when we had 12 people living there at one time.  Let's just say we were a close family…we had to be.

At Christmas time, Phillip, Ronald, Christian, Cheryl and I would turn out all the lights except for the tree, put a Christmas record on such as Frosty The Snowman and sit on the couch with a flashlight on the record jacket and let our imaginations run.  The Frosty record that we owned was when Frosty takes a wife, Crystal.  I can probably quote the movie for you because we listened to it so much.  We would play it over and over again.  Our favorite was The Sounds Of Christmas.  It had several stories on it.

Juliana & Jake before seeing the Nutcracker for the first time

Mom and Dad took us on car rides at night to look at the Christmas lights.  We would wish that we could put lights up outside but we lived at the church and it wasn't possible.  We spent hours dreaming of Christmas.  Coloring in our fun books, Mom would buy crafts for us to make ornaments, singing Christmas songs in the car…we cherished every bit of the holiday.

Christmas a couple of years ago…
Kelcie, Juliana & Jake    

Now I am 41 years old, married to the Love of my life, I am the mother of three grown children, 1 daughter in law, 1 soon to be son in law and 1 grandson.  Life has changed so much since my days at 410 Webb Lane, Havre de Grace, MD.  Yes, I am not the same innocent little girl that made Christmas cookies with Sarah and my sisters but I do believe that at Christmas I get a glimpse of that red headed, freckle faced, preachers daughter that even though she didn't believe in Santa Clause, deep inside wondered if just maybe he was real.  I no longer stay up all night Christmas Eve with my siblings to make gifts for my parents stockings because I know that they have nothing to open or use the Lite Brite (thanks Marvin) as a night light so we wouldn't wake them up.  But I still love the mysterious magic of Christmas.

Me & my Love

I think that Christmas is about a child who came into this world by extraordinary means…in a child's mind, it's magic.  So it is no wonder to me that it is children who embrace the wonderment of Christmas.  At this time of year until I am gone out of this world, I will embrace my childlike  innocence of the season.  I will decorate, bake, give, sing, love and enjoy everything that this season offers.  I hope you do the same.