Language is very interesting to me. I am fascinated by the sound of language, the emotions generated by words, the hidden meanings, the way meanings change over the years, etc… Basically I am a little obsessed with language. Words carry a lot of weight and emotions. Words often provoke memories and even generate pictures in our minds. A well-placed word can even conjure up scents. Words can cause your palms to sweat, your heart to race and images to run across your brain. Think about what happens when you read these words: family, children, chocolate, Jesus, beach. Most of these produce varying thoughts, images and emotions.
Christmas is one of those emotion-packed words. It is a word packed with sights, smells, vivid images. “Christmas” brings to life Christmases past and dreams of the Christmases of tomorrow. Sometimes I think that the word “Christmas” has more life and meaning in my heart and in my mind than almost any other word. Christmas has always seemed magical to me. When I say magical I mean that state of awe and wonder that brings joy and happiness. I do not believe in “magic” but I do think there are things that are magical – like the feelings you get when your child walks toward you for the first time or says “mommy” for the first time.
Christmas brings almost a suspension in time in my mind. Growing up, Mom would work with Heather and me to make everything from homemade candles to gingerbread sleighs, to hundreds of cookies decorated to the hilt. It was the most magical time of year in the McIntosh home. The sounds of Christmas are very distinct and leave lingering feelings of warmth and delight – the Lennon Sisters Christmas, Johnny Mathis Christmas, and the bouncing ball of Ray Conniff Singers Christmas. The scent of hundreds of cookies baking, the smell of candles burning, the greenery and the pop and crackle of the fireplace burning bring deep feelings of good tidings of great joy.
Christmas kicked off by putting the Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Day. We waited, not so patiently, for Dad to get everything down. Then we waited for him the light the tree and then we went to work hanging ornaments. From then on, the next month was full of activities.
My memories are surrounded by magic. Dad, who had worked in furniture sales at Carson Perie Scott & Company, had often helped the gift wrappers during the holiday season and his gift wrapping was a thing a beauty and wonder. He taught me all the tricks to a perfectly wrapped gift – tight corners, crisp edges, etc… So perfect you could marvel at the beauty of the gift. He also taught me a whole series of tricks with ribbons to create beautiful, delightful gifts. One of the highlights of my Christmas was to wrap gifts that won his express approval as a work of art!
Mom filled tins full of cookies for neighbors and co-workers and teachers and everyone else. Our cookie jar was always full to the brim. Heather and I enjoyed icing and decorating the cookies. In my mind they were also works of art, but the reality may have been otherwise. Mom made the most delicious, light homemade icing with orange juice and powdered sugar that was a confectioners delight. She made sugar cookies, twisted vanilla and chocolate candy canes, snickerdoodles, pinwheels, you name it. She was a cookie expert and I believe that everyone waited expectantly for those tins each year. We made strawberry jelly and homemade bread to go along with the cookies. If you’ve ever had her strawberry jelly, you know that you have to brush the angels away just to get a bite! (Thanks, Eddie, for that amazing saying)
Some mothers want things to be perfect and just right, so they allow their children to look on or watch or help sparingly. Mom allowed us to get our hands in there and create, decorate, cook, stir, you name it. All the while, the Lennon Sisters were singing in the background and we were serenading the neighbors, we were singing so loud.
I remember when we made the long Christmas trip from our home in Pennsylvania to visit all of our family in Illinois. I was filled with anxiety that whole trip. How will Santa know where I am? Should I be leaving a trail of crumbs? Will Heather and I be the only children in the world Santa can’t find? Imagine my absolute SHOCK that Santa found us!
I remember when I decided that I was going to stay up all night and catch Santa. It was somewhere around 1971. I had one of those GIGANTIC tape recorders. You know, it was gold tone and had a handle that slid out for me to carry. It had a microphone attached to it. So, I sat in my bed and acted like I was a reporter on special mission. I laid in bed and recorded my “documentary.” I remember some of these kinds of things… “Good evening. Robin McIntosh here coming to you from Pontiac, Michigan. You’ll see Santa here, live. Each and every year Santa comes around. We’re waiting here for him to land. While we wait let’s talk a little about him. They say he knows when we’re naughty and when we’re nice. We’re going to find out about that… yes, you’ll be the first to know here live…” And so on.
I remember the Christmas when Santa left Heather and me a gigantic chalk board. It was the kind that could flip to another side that was magnetized. Santa left us a message on the chalkboard saying we had been very good. I remember it being very difficult to erase his message and actually use the chalkboard.
I vowed to make Christmas as wondrous for my children. Amber and I always dig out the Christmas china November 1 and use it until January. We love it. We typically get our Christmas tree out around November 10 and then I’m ready for it to be down by December 28 or so. We decorate the tree while watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We sing loudly and badly at all the musical pieces. We get out all the Christmas books, videos, movies, decorations, wall hangings, lights, candles, door hangings, you name it!
Even now, we have our traditions. I have some decorations that look a little “tacky” to me after all these years, but as Amber and I were putting out this year’s decorations I tried to slip them to the side and she just about died! One, in particular, a wooden Santa holding things over his head – she insisted that he be put out and she cleared the same spot he has sat in for years to sit him down once again. It made me realize that Christmas has a special place in her heart – the way it does in mine.
Even though I’ve shared only fun memories and traditions, we have never forgotten that Christmas would not be celebrated at all if it were not for the birth of Jesus. And, Christmas is full of wonder. God loved us so much that He sent His son to be born in a stable. Born to peasant people in a lowly setting because He came for every person. The God of the Universe stepped out of heaven to dwell among us. That is covered in wonder and awe. Start traditions of your own. Tell the story of Jesus in your words, your actions and your deeds.
Spend Christmas loving deeply, worshipping our God who loved us enough to send Jesus, praying passionately that all would know, and thanking God for His gift. Create memories that stir in your children’s hearts the joy of the season and a lifetime of warm, delightful memories!
What does Christmas mean to you?
