It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It is funny how music can take you somewhere the minute the first word is sung.

When I was a little girl, and Christmas time came around, my mom would pull out the Bing Crosby White Christmas album. I was raised on Bing. He would sing how it was Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas and a version of Silent Night that can bring a tear to the eye of the toughest man on the face of the earth. We would listen to that album while decorating the house for Christmas. My mom not only did the tree, she also decorated the entire house. Jeff and I each got a Christmas pillowcase to sleep on.

Scott was raised on Henry Mancini’s A Merry Mancini Christmas. That was a tradition in his house. His mom would always make homemade cookies and they would drink hot chocolate while decorating the Christmas tree. Scott and Rick each had a bell that they hung on the tree.

Both of our families watched all the claymation shows like Rudolph and the cartoons like Charlie Brown. However, Scott was and still is, way more into in than myself.

Out here in Georgia, the Christian radio station starts playing Christmas music the day before Thanksgiving. Something my sister in law would absolutely love. Tonight on the way home from work, as I was flipping the channels on the radio, 104.7 The Fish was playing Bing. There I was a little girl in my parent’s home that they still live in today, excited because of a pillowcase.

Now I am 40 and Christmas doesn’t really do it for me. Part of it is Courtney had such issues with it when she was young. She never really bought into the whole Santa thing and she absolutely refused to sit on his lap. She told me she couldn’t because he wears glasses. Who can argue with that?

Part of it is because Scott and I don’t have a lot of traditions. We had to learn to go with the flow when Courtney was little and part of it is because we didn’t lay down roots when we were first married because we were in the military.

But for me I think it is lack of family. We ALWAYS went to Christmas Eve service at church and Sharlene Blakely would sing O Holy Night. Every single year. On Christmas morning, we would open presents and then go to my Aunt Deanna’s house and eat brunch. My grandparents would be there too. This is just what we did. And I know it doesn’t sound like much to anyone reading this, but it is so much to me.

Living in Georgia is great! I have a change of seasons that can take a person’s breath away with the beauty of it. I have friends who would walk to the ends of the earth and back for me. I have a husband and a daughter that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

But I am missing so much too.

So Bing can make me smile, warm my heart and bring a tear to my eye all in one word of a song.

And no matter what, Christmas is going to arrive on the 25th.

Maybe I would enjoy it more, if I had a Christmas pillowcase!