If you're new around these parts, I just want to say how much I appreciate your dropping by! Oh, and you may want to subscribe to my feed. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to ya!

Anyone out there remember those big singing groups from the ‘60’s; groups like Mitch Miller & the Gang, or Ray Coniff and the Ray Coniff Singers? Oh, good. (Please forgive me. I have to ask questions like that every now and to reaffirm the fact that I am not, in truth, the Oldest Person On The Internet.)

Well, last night we had our own version of The Gang when we had a bunch of folks over at our house for a Christmas Sing-along. There were 18 people in all, and we had a wonderful time munching pizza, scarfing cookies, and singing all the usual Christmas songs you may have known and loved over the years: Silent Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Here Comes Santa Clause, and of course, various pathetic attempts at Elvis impressions for a rousing rendition of Blue Christmas (Thank you. Thank you very much.)

In between singing, though, our song leader asked for folks to share a Christmas memory, and here’s the one that came to mind for me…

I must have been about 4 or 5 years old, and at the time we lived in a large (well, it was large to little ol’ me, anyway!) Victorian style house in the area of Houston known as The Heights. I woke up about 5 AM or so and jumped out of bed all excited, because it was, you know, Christmas Day! I couldn’t wait to see what Santa had left me under the tree.

Maybe you remember what it was like. There was perhaps that special something you’d had your eye on at the toy store, and you’d done everything you could to make sure the message had been received. You made your list, you sent Santa a letter (it was *ahem* letters – you know, snail mail – back then), you sat on the fake Santa’s lap at the store, hoping he’d tell the real one all about it.

Yep, I figured I had it all covered!

Anyway, I jumped out of bed (this was way before anyone else was up) and rushed down the stairs to check out all the (sound of needle scratching across a record) – hey, wait just a doggone minute here!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Right there, in our living room, underneath our beautifully decorated Christmas tree – were absolutely no presents at all (sound of anguished sobbing)! Nope; there was nuthin’ (sound of dull thud as heart drops to the floor). Nada. Zip. Zilch.

I was so shocked I couldn’t help but question the very core of my being, even to wondering if I had the right day (as if any kid wouldn’t have that day, of all days, accurately pinpointed). I even had to look two or three times, just to make sure I was seeing what I was seein’, so to speak.

Well, after I scraped my disappointment off the floor, I figured I might was well just go back to bed; I mean, what else was there to do? Santa has somehow missed our house last night, and it was over. Talk about feelin’ lower than a snake’s belly.

I crawled back into bed and somehow got back to sleep. Finally, somewhat later the smell of bacon woke me again. I moped around my room, trying not to feel too badly, and finally got dressed and made it downstairs.

To my utter surprise, there were Christmas presents literally all over the place! Huh? Now how did that happen? Had I imagined it? I was so amazed, I completely forgot the utter disappointment from earlier that morning. The day was saved! All was indeed Well With The World.

Now, I realized somewhat later, of course, that my parents had simply not made it down before me to put the presents under the tree. (See, unlike some folks, I don’t recall if/when I ever stopped believing in Santa Clause – I think I always knew it was my parents.)

But one thing this memory did for me was remind me how it felt to be utterly disappointed in an expected outcome, and then have it fulfilled right before my eyes!

See, when we spend a lot of time working toward a goal, dream, or whatever, and we’ve done all we can do; well, there comes a time when you just have to wait until it happens, right? But what if it doesn’t? It can be pretty crushing, lemme tell ya!

But then… what if – now stay with me on this one – what if it’s just a case of not happening the way you thought it would? Now, you not only have the joy of seeing the fruits of your labors, but now you get to flavor it with the sauce of amazement as well!

And I can tell you from experience; it’s a whole lot better. After all, even *cough* 50 years *cough* later, it’s still an amazing memory.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!