Is there a song that IS Christmas? For me, there have always been songs that just are the holiday. Especially amazing when you consider that I could not be more tone deaf!! When I was a little girl, I would watch those old Christmas movies... White Christmas and especially, The Bells of St. Mary's. In case you don't remember that far back, Bing Crosby is the common theme. I always thought of Bing Crosby as a fatherly figure...my movie star father. It was kinda tough when I found out he was ornery and even abusive. Oh well, for that. Still White Christmas and the Little Drummer Boy are never better than when sung by Bing-o.
Later I remember Amy Grant. I'm pretty sure that my family was saturated and then some with "Another Tender Tennessee Christmas". In spite of the hundreds of times I've listened to that song, I can almost always put myself into my sister Chris's kitchen. Its warm, the way all good and busy kitchens are on Christmas Eve day. There are all kinds of pots boiling and the smell is mouth watering. Family is everywhere. Bob comes in, sneaks a little taste of whatever there is and disappears again. A young Melanie decides on a black olive and maybe even replaces the cover on the relish tray. Brad walks by the cookie tray and finds a treat to take with him. No replacing the cover there... Grampie is probably right behind him. This is what Christmas is. Family. Good food. Warmth. Anticipation of the next two days. Above those things... it is the fact of being with people that you know better than anyone. The comfort of being free to be yourself. And the fact that we can all feel more because we get to be together. Every year it is worth the effort to be there. We all have Christmas traditions. My family is my Christmas tradition and no matter how the participants have changed over the years... somehow they all merge into one big Christmas get together in my mind.
Now I'm listening to "Joy to the World" and realizing again that in my mind and in my memory Christmas is music.
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Tender Tennessee Christmas is definitely one that stirs up memories. Either that or the Nutcracker Suite are pretty much Christmas for me. More recently it's BE. But anyway, TTC reminds me of driving from school to AC's on the snowy highway and listening to that song over and over again. You really must have played that "tape" out when I was a kid!
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