I remember very clearly as a child the excitement surrounding Christmas and especially the arrival of Santa. We would always put out milk and cookies to greet his arrival and went to bed hoping that he would fill our Christmas stockings and leave them at the foot of our beds which invariably they were without him having awoken us. Santa must have had a good upbringing or was part German as he was very neat and tidy, no spilt milk or scattered cookie crumbs. As well, our presents that he had brought from the North Pole, were neatly stacked on various chairs as there were 6 of us, the 2 highest piles of course were for my twin sisters which I never got over. My mother use to say, it is better to give than receive, but, at Xmas, I am not so sure I agreed with her.
Thankfully, not much has changed as Santa is still greeted with milk and cookies and sometimes we leave out a shot of rum to help his efforts. The stockings are still with us and we have 4 new ones for our grandchildren. My pile of presents has shrunk considerably but those of the grandchildren have more than compensated.
For Christa and me, the greatest present is to see the excitement on their faces as they tear through the gift wrapping to see what Santa has brought and if it matches their list that had been sent to Santa. Tears ensue if not and we conveniently blame the mail or the shot of rum that was left out.
They know they are very lucky to be receiving the presents that they have set their hearts on and, like my parents before, we let them know that there are lots of children who will not be opening any presents this Xmas at all.
My family joins me in hoping that this festive season will be filled
with gratitude and joy for you and yours and that the many blessings which we all enjoy
will continue throughout the coming year. Happy Holidays to all!
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