We went to Christmas Eve mass. Just three of us, Jeff, Taylor and I. Then headed over to our favorite German restaurant. Ever since the girls were little, we would take them for a drive around town to see all the Christmas lights. We needed to have something to occupy their time while we waited for Santa to come. This year, I told the family that we should head home after dinner and change clothes then head out to see the lights. As I entered the house, I could hear Jeff and Taylor both say "Oh no". I knew it had to be the tree.
This was the second time in 32 years that our tree had fallen over. I stood there looking at all the glass on the floor. I knew that treasured ornaments had been shattered. I looked at the glass ornaments that had belonged to my parents. Ornaments that I had hung on the tree as a child. I wanted to cry. You see, I think we humans want to have something tangible to hold onto to remind us of loved ones. My father is gone and my mother is not in optimum health. As I stood there looking at all the glass, I heard Boris Karloff going off in my head.
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming!
It Came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-fee ice-cold int he snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzles three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
Christmas would come to the Polenske house tree or no tree. Being able to hold a belonging from a loved one who is no longer with us is comforting to us. However, the memories that we store and hold in our hearts cannot be broken or taken away. They are there forever. Christmas is not about the packages or bags. It's about what we believe and what's in our hearts.
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