What Christmas means to me.....

Christmas to me means "love", for me it all started many, many years ago with the birth of our precious savior. The love God gave us that night is why Christmas is truly magical. When I was a child I thought Christmas was the best time of the year, a time when anything was possible including flying reindeer, little people called elves, and a happy chubby man named Santa.There was no better feeling than Christmas morning, when we would come running down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. Although I can remember opening presents, I can only recall what a few of them were. What I remember the most are the memories made by my parents like the smell of a real Christmas tree, singing Christmas carols in the car together, my mom teaching us how to make Christmas cookies, and my all time favorite was when mom would sit down and read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" surrounded by all eight of her children.( Who by the way were fighting over who was sitting where). So now that I'm older and have children of my own I realize that Christmas wasn't always magical for my parents. I know they must have spent many nights worrying about the financial burdens of buying all of us presents, and I know they went without because they "loved" us and wanted our Christmas' to be magical. I hope my parents know that the memories they gave me are more precious than they will ever know. Without love there wouldn't be Christmas. Because of the love given to me by God, my parents, my wonderful husband, our beautiful children, all seven of my siblings, and everyone I'm surrounded by my Christmas's are truly magical. Christmas happens everyday for me!