Tradition Time

 

So much of the joy of Christmas
Is the sameness of it all-
Always the wreath upon the door,
The festoons in the hall;
The mistletoe hung overhead,
The squeals at getting captured,
The sparkling tree that holds it's viewers
Silently enraptured.

 

The same beloved ornaments,
The candles and the bells;
The same old Christmas stories
That Grandpa always tells.
The same old battered angel
Once again adds to the joy-
It's stood atop the tree each year
Since Grandpa was a boy.

 

The merry family gatherings-

The old, the very young:

The strangely lovely way the

Harmonize in carols sung.

For Christmas is tradition time-

Traditions that recall

The precious memories down the years,

 

The sameness of them all

Helen Lowrie Marshall


 

The things that make Christmas special to me each year are the traditions.  The Christmas songs...I can't hear The Little Drummer Boy without thinking of my Mom...How Mom played it over and over on the record player when Dad brought it home for her.  Baby Jesus under the tree. Baking cookies and making pirogi. Luminerias lining the sidewalk and the path to our house on Christmas Eve.  Holding a sleeping child through Midnight Mass.  Oplatek, a wafer that is passed among the family, every break includes a wish, a Polish tradition. Having my whole family together. Our granddaughter's first Christmas...sigh...      

What makes Christmas special at your house?  I'd love to hear.

Have a great day my friends!