The Best Time of Life

When I was a boy the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were the slowest weeks of the year. Sure there were Sunday School Christmas parties ($1 limit on presents) and grade school parties (don't draw names; just number the gifts and let us draw. No kid that liked me ever drew my name so I would always get modeling clay or a Lassie book). Gradually, glacially, the Christmas season would progress from the opening of the box of Christmas comic books on Thanksgiving afternoon to buying a tree and decorating it. Each day we would check under the tree after school to see if any additional presents had appeared. Those which were available would be shaken. The paper would be pressed down on the package to see if anything could be read between the Santa faces. It seemed that the Christmas season lasted for months. It was wonderful and it was awful with the anticipation of Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we were sure that we would never fall asleep, only to be awakened by a HO HO HO from my dad on Christmas morning. I thought it was the best time of my life, and it was.

When I had children, the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas went by much faster. There was so much for Carole to do. Decorating the house, going to parties, getting gifts for our kids to give at Sunday School and grade school parties, wrapping presents so our kids would find new ones under the tree when they got home from school, and trying, unsuccessfully at times, to keep them from finding out what they were getting. Christmas morning came and went very quickly, leaving a lot of work for Carole, but I thought it was the best time of my life, and it was.

Now I have grandchildren. This will be the first year that the oldest, Tyler, has any understanding of what is happening. I look forward to seeing him and his newborn brother, Simon in their church Christmas play. (Simon will be playing the lead role of baby Jesus this year.) I enjoy being around my children and their families and this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is passing at breakneck speed. But I think it is the best time of my life.