Well it happened again. As hard as I tried to not get caught up in the commercialization of Christmas, I have to admit that I once again did. I don’t have a real good excuse especially since my wife Christine does most of the Christmas shopping. I did do a little better, but it was my goal this past year to be more intentional about enjoying each day leading up to the holiday while focusing on the true meaning of the season. It doesn’t help that the department stores begin advertising Christmas shortly after Halloween.
In 2011 I plan to do better. I’m going to try to focus more on our family traditions. One of which is the placement of the 29 cent star that has sat atop each Christmas tree since Christine and I were first married. Like most young couples we didn’t have a lot of money. I earned 77 cents an hour at my first job as a mail and information clerk at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. If you have been to our home during the holidays, perhaps you have seen the green and silver tin-foil star on top of the tree. Having survived six moves and untold packing and repacking abuses, the star has taken its share of dings. In fact it is now hard to get it to sit straight and so this year in particular it leaned hard right, similar to most of my drives in golf. In spite of its lackluster appearance, the star will be out this year as well, just like it has the past 43.
Another tradition we started a few years ago is the “ tree envelope gift drawing”. Here’s how it goes. Christine and I have six grandchildren, so we take six envelopes and fill them each with a different dollar denomination from one to one hundred. So, one lucky grandchild wins $100 while the others win 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 respectively. The kids choose numbers from 1 thru 6 out of a hat which determines the order in which they retrieve an envelope. This year our youngest grandson Jake won. You may have heard his shouts of joy. He did a good job of withstanding the harassing chants and offers to trade envelopes from his sister and cousins.
My grandfather used to say, “the older you get , the faster time goes by”. That never used to make sense as a kid, but it sure makes sense now. So, with that thought in mind, why don’t you join me this year in committing to be more intentional about Christmas. I know it seems a long way off but it will be here before you know it. And even faster for some of us, depending on our age.
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