Christmas Spirit

While sitting in my doctors waiting room recently, I noticed two young boys, maybe 4 and 7 years old, amusing themselves with some storybooks. Their mother had given them instructions on behavior before she took another child with her to the back to see the doctor. They were extremely well behaved, just sitting in the chairs swinging their legs, looking at their books when all of a sudden a commercial with a catchy Christmas song came on the waiting room television.

I don’t remember what the commercial was advertising, but it had some reindeer galloping across the screen as the music played. Both boys were wide-eyed staring at the screen, their little mouths gaping open. It was at that moment that I realized that was what the Christmas spirit looked like. Somewhere along the way I had misplaced my Christmas spirit.

My mind wandered back to long ago when as a child I slept in the upstairs bedroom and could swear I heard the reindeer pawing on the roof one Christmas Eve.

The windows were fogged up, but somehow I was able to catch a fleeting glimpse of Santa’s sleigh and his eight tiny reindeer as they rose from our rooftop and went on to the next house. Thank goodness there are still the innocent among us to remind us of ourselves as children and how we should try very hard to keep some of that innocence and wonder. Merry Christmas, Monticello!