Have you ever noticed how quiet it gets around 8:00 p.m. or later on Christmas Eve 2024? It’s an eerie quiet that overcomes the area, wherever I happen to be. I like to go outside on Christmas Eve and listen. It seems to be saying that the Christ Child is coming.
It’s Christmas Eve morning, and I’ve got the day off. Retired and have a day off? Yes, it happens. I wouldn’t enjoy retirement if I sat around all day doing nothing. I sometimes wonder how I got anything done when I was working. Anyway, most days, I have chores, appointments, the gym, my dog, and the list seems endless. However, today, the gym was open for only four hours. I knew by the time I got up, had breakfast, and cared for the dog, I’d only have a few hours to work out. Since it’s Tuesday, I don’t usually plan a lot of chores for after the gym since it usually wipes me. So it’s a day off for me.
Thankfully, I saw this day of “doing nothing” coming and did a bit of planning. I was thinking about taking my dog to the Shenandoah National Park and surrounding area for a day of exploring. However, the weather forecast of freezing rain and ice helped me decide to stay home. The mountains usually get snow and ice more often than what we do.
I wasn’t too sure about the trip to the mountains to start with because it’s actually refreshing not to have to be motivated, as Tuesday mornings are usually my busiest mornings. I decided I would enjoy a day of walking my dog; gravel roads and trails are easy to navigate in the icy weather, listening to my classical music collection, mainly the Christmas CDs, writing, and maybe reflecting on Christmas’s past.
The morning is quiet, and music from the Baroque era is playing on my stereo system. Something about the tranquil music is creating a calming space in my studio. I find myself thinking a bit about Christmas’s past. A good part of me misses my parents. It’d be nice to have them around to enjoy. It’s funny; some of our family celebrations in my married life seemed so annoying. Everyone had their quirks. One family member thought the entire world revolved around him, another always wanted their traditions and wasn’t willing to budge, another would say they’d be there but never did show up but sent lovely expensive gifts that meant little since he wasn’t there, and then there was my dad. He was the quiet one in the corner, enjoying the festivities with little to say. I think, “That’s where I got it from.” Yeah, all the quirkiness was often a pain as we tried to work with them all so they’d be happy. However, looking back, it was what made each of them unique and created the traits within my wife and me to be the people we are. And, yeah, as crazy as my parents might have driven me over the years, I would love to have them back to enjoy Christmas. However, they have gone on to heaven, and I’m sure they are celebrating the day. Death in this life is inevitable, and we don’t know when. Get together with those you love as often as you can. Even if they’re a pain. It’s only for the moment.
A favorite memory of my in-laws was their insistence not to shop for Christmas or any other special day. If my mother-in-law were out somewhere and saw something she thought I would like, she would buy it. Most of the time, the gifts were in the form of a check. A sizeable amount, too. I loved it. Some would say, that’s tacky or not very thoughtful, but I loved every one of those checks and my especially in-laws for doing it. Why? It said they cared enough to let me get something I know I would like. Though I made a good salary, it was for our family expenses, mortgage, car loan, and necessities of life. I budgeted a small monthly amount that I could spend frivolously, there were things I would like to have that wasn’t in the budget. I would save the checks they gave me to purchase that. Frankly, you’d have to know me well to know what to buy me for a gift. Very few people could do that. Anyway, when I purchased something with their gift money, I shared it with them so they would know what was bought.
I have plenty of Christmas memories of my parents. Among many, my favorite is the year that I got a bike. Getting the bike wasn’t so much the memory as the events leading up to it. My brother and I had a habit of getting up on Christmas morning the second our eyes opened. Sometimes, that was very early. Earlier than o’dark hundred! This particular year, my father stayed up most of the night helping Santa Claus assemble two bicycles. Of course, the instructions were so clear that his adventure became more challenging than a father should have on Christmas morning. At precisely o’dark hundred, my brother and I ran to my parent’s room to wake them up. Even though Dad had just gotten into bed, probably not a few minutes earlier, he went along with the early morning festivities. I didn’t know this story until later in life when my parents shared their funny Christmas stories. Dad never complained about the lack of sleep or anything like that. He was happy to see his boys get the bike from Santa Claus.
The Christmas season has changed quite a bit as I’ve gotten older. My parents, brother, and in-laws have gone on to heaven with my father-in-law being the last, a few years ago. My wife and I will exchange gifts along with our furry children. Later, a friend will join us as we go to a restaurant in Northern Virginia to celebrate the day. It’s a nice escape from the house, so we aren’t always looking for family members to show up. Next year, we may try a traveling adventure.
For me, Christmas is about celebrating the Birth of Jesus. God gave us the Greatest Gift ever of His Son Jesus. He came so we may have eternal life with Him in heaven if we believe. To learn more, please visit To Know God.
I will head outside tonight to listen for the quiet I mentioned earlier. It seems a bit different since we moved to the country where quiet is a part of my daily life. However, you can see the stars in the vast sky, and that seems to add to the beauty of Christmas.
May you have a blessed Christmas.
