What makes a perfect Christmas?

Is it sparkling white snow falling from the the sky

on Christmas Eve?

Is it that tree that didn’t look like much in the lot

and it got a little mushed on the car ride home, but miracles of miracles

when you got it set up and decorated and lit up it turned out to be the best tree anyone

has ever seen?

Is it a tasty meal? Warm drinks and spicy cookies served on festive

platters?

Does the perfect Christmas moment happen when you feel that wrapped package in your hand and

you just KNEW your Christmas wish was granted

or when there is a knock on the door and when you open it and look out your heart bursts with happiness at the

sight of the person ( Or dog, I love dogs ) standing there?

When I was growing up my family loved to tell stories, so I never believed in Santa. I

understood he was a story. But a lot of my friends believed in Santa.

They believed reindeer could fly and that Santa if you mailed a letter to Santa he would

read it and if you had been good you might get some of the things from your letter.

I also remember being told to not spoil it for the believers and of course I never did.

Santa was a story, a great story and in a Universe of story characters he seemed like a

good egg so I enjoyed being a part of the Santa experience- even if I wasn’t a believer.

When I look at my list here and I ask myself what makes a  a perfect Christmas- I ask myself,  is it the

snow, the food, the tree, the presents, is it Santa?

I think my answer is obvious- stories are what makes a perfect Christmas.

When we  share them, when we tell them when we sit back and invent them we are

never closer

and happier then we are in those moments.

That is what makes a perfect Christmas for me.

In close I’d like to tell you a little story about a game that I’ve played and it’s an old one.

It’s  called Snapdragon. This isn’t the card game that some of you may be familiar with.

Snapdragon was game Victorians played around Christmas. Raisins would be put in a

shallow bowl filled with brandy, and the brandy would be lit on fire. Then players had to

extract the raisins without burning their hands and then eat the brandy-soaked raisins

on fire.

Like I said, my family didn’t bring me into the Santa Claus believers club- but they did

offer up other things and in the end I think it was a pretty great trade-off.

anita

Inspired by the Prompt: What Makes a Perfect Christmas