i want the "little" back in Christmas....
tiny crystal lights strung together
like a chain of softly uttered prayers
offered humbly
over the top of this cluttered world.
just a simple white rosary of lights,
that no one puts away when the holidays are over.
little.......like the moment
when all the crowded cost co isles slipped from view,
as I heard an older couple
singing a familiar Christmas carol
on a karaoke machine.
soft and reverent, their paper thin voices rained
over the sound system
as gently and fragile as an unexpected snow.
suddenly i was five,
sitting in church between my brother and parents,
as the voices of the elders broke my heart;
the way you want
your heart to be broken.
i want those long ago footsteps of my small son
sneaking down the stairs way too early on Christmas morning,
when the sheer delight of possibilities
was enough
to take his breath away.
and that little note he left for Santa
beside a generous plate of just baked gingerbread cookies.
Dear Santa,
Please share the cookies with your reindeer. And could you please find
the missing key to my treasure chest and leave it under our Christmas
tree so I know you are real?
Love,
Adrian
i remember
when a worn brass key
hardly the size of the first snow flakes of winter
could keep the magic of believing alive.
i spent most of that night
desperately
searching
for the key that would open his treasure chest.
and as fate would have it......i did!
i left it on the plate
with a few less gingerbread cookies.
in the morning it was adrian's first destination.
he gripped that tiny key in relief and wonder.
i don't remember how many years past
until i knelt before that old trunk
grandmother had given to me
when i was a child....
and so many years later,
i gave to him.
S l o w l y
i placed the familiar key in the old lock
and gave it a careful turn.
it was a hot summer day and what met me was the faint,
perfect smell of Christmas.
stacked to the top...
silently waiting,
a humble collection of frail little branches
retrieved from each hallowed pine
of all our holidays together.
always the last vestige of Christmas
to be taken down and
adrian's most difficult to release.
carefully,
without notice
he had kept a remnant of each beloved tree.
may the smallest most tender
memories of Christmas
tie our hearts to both seen and unseen miracles.
may all the disparate shards of life knit themselves together
under a pure silent blanket of snow.
and just for a few white hours,
before scads of new sleds and brightly bundled kids
weave their spirited footsteps
across the soft horizon;
let our world be transformed.
as my husband and countless others
clamour for a little more time,
as our grown son longs for different "little" things
i hear that couple singing....
have yourself a merry little christmas,
let your heart be light..........
i smell the perfect scent of pine and send this simple hope...
that a soft snow will fall forgiving all our short comings
and deliver us pure white to the waiting new year.
......that some small forgotten memory
will fill each heart
with a surge of love and wonder,
that no one puts away when the holidays are over.
it's sunday.
today i am dedicating postcards from paradise to messages and images
of love, hope, healing and light.
even tiny flickering candles shine fiercely against the darkest night.
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The key on the cookie plate went straight to my heart--as it was meant to!
Blessings in these holy days, and always, Rebecca.
Posted by: Magical Mystical Teacher | December 23, 2012 at 08:40 AM
the letters are blurred as I click the keys, such a heart-filled story! I thank our Mother for introducing you into my life! I want to be like you when I finally grow up. honestly, you are a great model!
give your son an extra hug from me!
and a blessed Christmas to you and yours!
Posted by: Nonnie aka Scrappy Grams | December 23, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Wishing you and your gorgeous men the happiest and healthiest of Christmases and New Years. Love you, Rebecca.
Posted by: Meri @ Meri's Musings | December 23, 2012 at 10:16 AM
I am not linking because i am away overseas! oh what a journey i have had and am having. I have missed you Rebecca.. but my life has been one of change and pilgrimage.. and I even met dear Susan..here in the UK.. for such a short time.. but we met :)
a blessed Christmas xo
Posted by: Miss Robyn | December 23, 2012 at 11:03 AM
O Rebecca, you have made my heart sigh, a deep, luxuriant sigh, down to my toes. What precious memories of Christmases gone by you have opened up to share with us. Gratefully I receive the written images of your precious young son and his holiday spirit and how his wonder inspired your own. Thank you and a Merry Christmas and a Bright Beautiful New Year to your and your family. May we all be blessed by the presence of one another.
~Dawn
Posted by: Dawn | December 23, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Wish you all the magic and peace in the world Rebecca.
Posted by: Ana | December 23, 2012 at 02:52 PM
Thank you for sharing these wonderful memories. Christmas is so much about memories, the past mixes with the present and calls us to the future too. I am so happy to have discovered your beautiful website. I am enriched every time I visit and share in your heart light! May you have a wonderful Christmas, close to all those you love.
Posted by: Barbara | December 23, 2012 at 04:31 PM
Wonderful loving post and photography ~ Happy Christmas with much joy and peace ~ ^_^
(A Creative Harbor ~ArtMuseDog and Carol ^_^)
Posted by: Carol | December 23, 2012 at 07:03 PM
What a beautiful Christmas memory. Thank you so much for sharing it. The knowledge of what is important and what isn't. And thank you for being a part of my life Rebecca. I wish you and your family a magical Christmas and a new year full of light and hope.
Posted by: Caya Papaya | December 23, 2012 at 10:53 PM
What glorious Christmas enchantment. Merry Christmas, Rebecca.
Posted by: annie | December 23, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Your blog has been a "little" blessing to me Rebecca. Through it I have met a few people, and "little chats" have grown into bigger friendships. Thank you for that and more.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones,
and to all your blog family.
Posted by: Gayle | December 24, 2012 at 08:16 AM
So lovely and meaningful, my heart was lifted ~
Wishing you and your family Merry Christmas and joyful season ~
Posted by: Grace | December 24, 2012 at 08:39 AM
This post is awsomely beautiful. I am hoping by next year, I will be looking for the "little" in Christmas too. Your blog has brought me much joy, and new friends, these past weeks. xoxo to you.
Posted by: judie | December 24, 2012 at 09:04 AM
This is the best post! Thank you for it.:) God's blessing on you and yours this Christmas.xx
Posted by: Lizbeth | December 24, 2012 at 09:47 AM
What a beautifully perfect Christmas story, Rebecca! Yes, the little!
Merry Christmas!
xo
Posted by: Leslie M | December 24, 2012 at 12:42 PM