“Christmas comes but once a year”…but it comes more quickly as we get older. A child waits to open presents under the tree for what must seem to them an eternity. Yet for grownups, seasons become shorter and shorter. Oh, I suppose that a cold wet winder may seem to hang around for too long…especially if you are plagued with arthritis and rheumatism.

            However, it has been my experience that once you reach middle age, the weeks and months flash by as though seen from the windows of a speeding train. It’s unfortunate that we can’t find a way to slow things down…to be able to lead that contemplative life that the philosophers write about. We should be able to stretch out the happy times such as when everyone is home for the holidays, clustered about the fire, opening presents and holding them up for all to admire.

            Perhaps we can utilize the special gift that we humans have alone…the gift of remembrance…the thing that sets us apart from our 4 legged friends. This is a good time of year to exercise that gift.

            If this Christmas time finds you alone, then remember the way your own home felt years ago with the smell of roasting turkey from the kitchen and the children underfoot…and the laughter…always the laughter.

            If this season finds an empty chair around the table, remember well the light that the absent one cast into your life. Easier said than done, you say? Agreed. But if you think it can be done, then it will be done, on earth…and elsewhere.

            This is a good time of year when fond memories can make it better…and a little happier. Raise a cup of good cheer to those here and now… and to those who once who sat before us.

Robert Minch

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 9:26 am and is filed under We Said. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.