Christmas Memories

Today I have copied a note from our son, Patrick. He has his version of an email blog/newsletter and I thought he hit a pretty good note. So, here are his thoughts on Christmas Memories:

'Tis The Season to be Crazy

So in the spirit of the holiday season and seeing that the last blog I wrote was about how much I adore Thanksgiving, I figure now is a good time to talk a little bit about my experience with the wild and crazy Christmas season. To me Christmas is about family – but not in the traditional sense of that phrase. What I mean is, Christmas is always wild. No matter what the circumstance is, something crazy always happens to my family during Christmas. If your family is anything like our family, something wildly hilarious will happen. For example, one Christmas years and years ago, my family decided to get everybody together and head up to New York, where my Dad grew up. Once up there, we had a house about a mile from the beach and somebody thought it would be a great idea to do a “Polar Bear” swim. A polar bear swim is a winter swim in the ocean. The next day, in the freezing cold 40 degree wind, I walked slowly with my family into the harshly cold weather down to the beach to face the cold cold water, for one reason and one reason alone, because if I didn’t, my siblings would never stop making fun of me.

At the beach all of us kids solemnly began taking off layers of jackets and sweaters, beginning to think that this might just be a terrible idea. We were almost down to our bathing suits, when we heard a hysterically laughing man running down the beach towards us. I looked up and I saw one of the happiest men I have ever seen. My dad, in all his glory, wearing a bright red pajama/long underwear suit, (you know the kind with the butt flap), literally skipping across the beach, past all of his hesitant kids and plunging himself into the freezing waves. With a quick glance across the line of siblings, we all began racing towards the water, laughing to the point of tears, without a hint of fear in our hearts.

This is the kind of family experiences I think Christmas is all about. No need for stating out loud what we are all thankful for but instead, acting on what we are all grateful for. To me Christmas is a time to laugh, to love, and to act on gratitude. To show the people you love how much you they mean to you, and to experience the magic of the season together.

Memories like this one I just shared with you all keep me going. No matter how bad my day is, the simple mental picture of my dad grinning ear to ear in that red jump suit can make any day one to be grateful for.

Keep livin’ the dream

Patrick