The Miracle of Christmas

When you're a kid, there is nothing better then Christmas morning. My inner alarm would wake me up between 6am and 7am. Immediately, I would run to the tree and see if Santa left presents. Then I would run into my parents room and scream... It's Christmas Morning!!! My parents, like they were surprised, would slowly rise out of bed, use the bathroom, brush their teeth, make tea and coffee... all while I'm sitting next to the tree waiting... waiting... and waiting. How the hell was I to know they were up late last night after I went to bed putting all those presents under the tree? Not to mention eating the cookies I left out. What a rip off!!! The excitement of new toys and video games was unbearable. Just let me at them!!! Some highlights from my youth were my Dukes of Hazzard race track... my cowboy dress up gear, Nintendo, and all those WWF Wrestling figures. As time passed, my family started to open gifts after church at 2am in the morning. Then we could sleep late and not worry about waking up early. That was cool too... I got to open my gifts a few hours earlier. But also as time went on, I got older and toys no longer excited me, nor did I get them. Sweaters... new jeans... maybe CD or video game... Christmas lost it's magic for me. It became just another day. But then I started working. Now I was able to buy gifts for my parents, sister, and friends. And Christmas had a whole knew meaning for me. The reaction when someone opens a gift that you bought is great, of course if the gift sucks, you can kind of tell the fake reaction at times. That's okay, I applaud the effort. Now in my late 20's, I don't like asking or opening gifts. I just feel funny. If I want something, I'll just go buy it myself. Or the one thing I hate... I finally do tell someone want I would like and I get something totally different. Why ask me in the first place? I love buying gifts for my parents, friends, and most importantly, my girlfriend. She loves getting gifts. There's a shocker!!! The look on her face when she gets something she wants is so fulfilling. And when she gets something she really, really wants and had no idea she was getting it or I remembered she wanted it, is even better. I'm glad things worked out this way. For a short period of time, Christmas started to bore me. Now I know the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate in the first place, but I'm leaving religion out of this for now. But the excitement is back and I can't wait for Christmas morning once again. And someday, I might even be lucky enough to have a little arm pulling at me at 6:20am on Christmas morning. Hey, maybe T-bone is on to something? Merry Christmas everyone!!! No music to pass on today. Just put in your favorite Christmas music and enjoy the holidays!!!