Christmas Past

It's Christmas Eve day and I am thinking about what my family will be doing tonight...it makes me think of Christmas's past and all of the wonderful memories we made. One particular memory stands out.

Every Christmas Eve my siblings and I participated in a children's service at our church. There were always two, and my parents would always go to the first one. We could not wait until our dad picked us up from the last service, because we just knew he had a surprise for us.

We would jump into the car and ask, "So were we good this year, did you see Santa on your way here?" Somehow, when my dad was on his way to pick us up from church, he would be stopped by Santa, who would tell my dad in his jolly old way, "Steve, your kids have been particularly good this year, so I wanted you to give them an extra surprise." What a treat it was to be given chocolate donuts by Santa!

I have such clear memories of being bundled up in the back seat of the car looking up into the night sky, hoping for a glimpse of Santa and his reindeer. Of course my dad would encourage that by saying, "Look! There he is...see over there!" It was probably a cluster of stars or our vivid imaginations, but there were times when I thought I actually saw him.

This tradition never got old or any less magical as the years went on, even after the truth about Santa was known. It was even more fun to 'be in on it' as my younger brothers grew to look forward to dad's "visit" with Santa.