It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Sometimes the sentiment of a song hits the nail right on the head. I really do feel that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

Normally I whine and complain about the snow and cold. I’m just not a winter person. I don’t ski, snowshoe or go snowmobiling, and I stopped making snow angles when I was 10 years old.

But at Christmas I put the whining on hold until after the New Year. I just can’t imagine the holiday with green grass and tropical breezes. I’ll take the snow and the cold because it’s so right for Christmas.

I’m not usually real fond of shopping either. When necessity dictates that I must shop, I try to get into the store, get whatever it is I’m after and get out.

When Christmas comes my attitude changes completely. The crowds and the hustle and bustle of frantic shoppers is part of the season’s mystique and I love it.

Everyone has his or her favorite part of Christmas. For some it is the shopping. For others it’s the decorations and the Christmas tree. Some people favor the Christmas carols, for others it’s the gathering of friends and family.

For most of us though it’s all these things that make our season bright.

But my absolute favorite part of Christmas is the memories.

There is no other time or event that can trigger so many memories of years gone by.

Every year when I put up the Christmas tree I see the ghosts of all the trees from my childhood right up to the previous year’s masterpiece.

I remember following my father through knee-deep snow as a child in search of a suitable tree for him to cut. As an adult, I remember standing on frozen feet in Christmas tree lots while I had my husband pick up tree after tree until he held the perfect one.

I remember some past Christmas trees that were so pathetic that even Charlie Brown wouldn’t want them. I remember others that were so beautiful I wondered how nature could create such a miracle.

For me, hanging the ornaments is a direct trip down memory lane. I still have some my children made when they were very young. I can still see the excitement in their eyes when they brought them home from school.

Stringing the garland takes me right back to making paper chains from colored construction paper. As I recall, I made so many paper chains they would be strung throughout the house as well as covering the Christmas tree.

I never had a lot of artistic talent so I guess making paper chains was my one crafty contribution to the holiday. I remember when my kids were younger I tried to make ornaments out of Leggs pantyhose eggs. The looked like something an ostrich on LSD might have laid. I should have stuck with paper chains.

When I see my grandchildren’s excitement as they open their presents I remember the looks on my children’s faces when they first saw what Santa had left under the tree. I remember my own unbridled happiness when Santa brought me a walking doll one Christmas.

Most of all, at Christmas I remember many years of loving and being loved like no other time of the year. A feeling that warms the heart and comforts the soul.

Yes, the way I see it, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

May your Christmas fill you with wonderful memories that you will cherish for many Christmases yet to come.

Merry Christmas to you all.