The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I’ve put off writing about Christmas for about as long as I can stand. We love Thanksgiving and gathering with our loved ones. But once the turkey goes into the fridge, and I’ve eaten my share of pumpkin pie, I’m ready to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

Tomorrow is the first day of December, and it’s time for our annual Christmas tree decorating bash. It’s the evening when we fill our home with the people we love and ply them shamelessly with food and spirits while they help us decorate our tree. It’s a win-win for everyone and one of our favorite celebrations. There will be Christmas carols in the background, more food than we can eat, and more than a few cut-throat rounds of Twister. The Greatest Kid On The Planet and I are already placing bets on which ornament his Uncle Peter will break.

No matter the occasion, one thing you can always count on in our home is that there will be music playing. The Greatest Kid and I spend inordinate amounts of time dancing around our kitchen, and the holiday season is no exception. We start playing Christmas carols right after Thanksgiving, long before the leftovers are gone.

I grew up in a home filled with music. I was raised listening to the greatest of the greats: Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the incomparable Andy Williams. The Christmas music my mother played each year on the stereo in our living room is forever imprinted in my mind. And today, it isn’t Christmas unless I hear Mitch Miller And The Gang singing Santa Clause Is Coming To Town or Elvis Presley lamenting a Blue Christmas.

But nothing is more Christmas to me than Andy Williams. The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year is the first song I listen to when the holiday season comes to our home, and I will play Andy’s songs over and over again throughout December and never grow tired of listening. I remember when I was young, watching his Christmas specials on TV. Then, later, when I had moved away, I had the joy of seeing him do a live Christmas show. I remember sitting in the theater, mesmerized, as I listened to him sing the songs I grew up with, and then, years later, the tears I cried when I learned he was gone.

I believe there are some things we carry with us throughout our lives, treasures we keep close. They’re little pieces of who we are, and they remind us where we came from, and of all the things we want to hold on to and never forget.

In 1961, Julie Andrews sang a song called My Favorite Things on a Gary Moore TV holiday special, years before she would star in the film version of The Sound of Music. Forevermore, that sweet little song would become associated with the holidays, and it’s been recorded by numerous artists ever since.

Of all the Christmas songs I listen to, My Favorite Things is, without a doubt, my favorite of all of my favorites. The lyrics will resonate through my mind over and over throughout the holiday season. But whether I am singing those words to myself in my head, or whether they’re coming from the speakers in my home, it’s Andy Williams’ voice that I hear. I will listen to him sing that song numerous times over the next month, and I will never forget the peace and wonder I felt when I watched him perform that song live so many years ago.

What is it about Christmas that brings back memories like no other time of the year?

It’s no secret The Greatest Kid and I try to make time for all of our favorite things. There is never any shortage of wonders throughout the year to make us laugh and smile. But the things that bring us the most joy are the traditions we’ve held on to through the years, and those we’ve started anew. Those enduring treasures make us who we are, and what better time to celebrate the things we love most than during the magic of Christmas?

For me, the holiday season means my grandmother’s perogs that my mom bakes for us every year. It’s a family recipe for freshly baked crescents of homemade bread filled with little pieces of heaven, and they are more valuable to all of us than gold. We will fight over them and hoard them and hide them from each other.

It means a tree with white lights and little wooden ornaments of Rudolph and Snowman Sam, and Hermey the Elf, the Abominable, and Yukon Cornelius that look just like the ones we had when I was a kid. And it means hours spent crafting homemade bows to go on shiny wrapped boxes like the ones my mom taught us to make.

The holiday means a shopping extravaganza with my nieces, and oohing and aahing over the holiday lights with The Greatest Kid. It means staying up late playing Backgammon and our favorite card games and watching A Christmas Carol.

Christmastime means hot chocolate with whipped cream in Santa Claus mugs, stockings hung from the mantel, John Denver And The Muppets, and candy canes all over our tree.

And it means freshly baked cookies for Santa, precious time spent with loved ones, and, as always, a candlelight service on Christmas Eve.

And the holiday season means Andy Williams will be in the background, just as he is now, dreaming about a White Christmas, singing about going for a Sleigh Ride, and reminding us why we celebrate the holiest night of the year.

These are the things that make it Christmas in our home. They’re the traditions we treasure, and they’re the memories we make. And years from now, they will be the moments we don’t want to forget

Soon enough, the new year will be upon us, and there will be time enough for other things. But for now, we’ll make the most of the holiday season. We’ll cherish each moment we spend with our loved ones doing all of the things we love. And we will make new memories to treasure in the years to come while we celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with all of our favorite things.

M.C. Greene

(This lovely photo was taken by Aaron Burden)