thinking about Christmas

It is Christmas time and I'm getting nostalgic. I was driving somewhere the other day and I had the radio tuned to a station that is playing non-stop holiday tunes. Yes some are awful and some are cheesy. But it got me to thinking about a time in my life when all those songs were new to me.

I thought about grade school chorus and learning "I'll have a blue Christmas without you". Mrs. Smallwood told us that it is without you, not withou chew.

In fourth grade I sang a solo of "Christmas in Killarney". My teacher, Mrs. Allemong introduced with her slightly country accent - Even in far away Arland people are celebrating Christmas. I wore a bright red shirt and my mother fashioned a big green bow. There's a line in the song How grand it feels to click your heels and join in the fun of the jigs and reels. I was supposed to click my heels when I sang that line. I was so nervous I forgot to move. Oh the poor parents and teachers who had to endure those programs every year!

It wasn't so bad - as a result of my star turn there I was invited to dress as a leprechaun the following March and welcome the pre-school kids who were coming to visit the school for the first time.

There's so much about this time of year that I love. Seeing the holiday decorations go up in my hometown. Making decorations at school. Writing letters to Santa and listening to Santa read the letters on the local radio station. Santa was always preceded by the "Christmas Basket of Music". Santa would then show up and talk about what the elves were doing and the polar bears and the reindeer. He'd talk about Mrs. Claus baking cookies.

Years later I learned that Santa was in reality a friend of the family - my dad's mentor. Mr. Capen would never strike you as the kind of person who would play Santa Claus - but he was wonderful. At some point Mr. Capen was sick and he asked my dad to take over. My dad said the kids would know that he wasn't Santa, so Mr. Capen invented Alvin the Elf who was helping out Santa for a few days. When Mr. Capen died my dad took over the program. He loved it. But the sponsor didn't want Alvin the Elf - he wanted Santa, so my dad became Santa. I think that is why he took to wearing a Santa hat every day from Thanksgiving through New Year.

One aside - my father had an insurance business and he would do his own radio spots for the business. A friend mentioned one day that her son, after hearing the business ad asked his mother, Why is Santa doing ads for the insurance company?

Last Saturday I was painting at home and I had the place to myself and I put the radio on to the station that plays Christmas songs. I heard Bing Crosby sing White Christmas and a bit later I heard Nat King Cole sing The Christmas Song. I thought about so many things and felt happy and sad and hopeful and cheerful and oh so loved by friends and family here and gone.