The other day I was baking cookies, thinking about Christmas and the memories I cherish the most. The thought struck me that I wondered why I always reminisced about my childhood Christmases and not any of the Christmases I’ve had as an adult…

After much mulling over, I realized that as a child, there was always a magic about Christmas. The memories that came up the strongest were the plate of cookies at my grandma’s house every year. She would do a cookie exchange with her church friends and it was always fun to see what was on the plate. When we were finished with dinner, gramma would give each of us a bowl of ice cream and we passed the cookie plate. It was such a fun part of the evening. I don’ t have memories of any of the gifts or the conversations we had. Just gramma’s big beautifully decorated dining room table where we all sat together and felt happy.

I loved driving to Grandma’s on River Road because we always watched for Santa. I swear my little heart jumped out of my chest every time I saw a red light in the sky. And then when we got home we’d all run to our beds to see if Santa had left us new pajama’s on our pillows because that meant he had already been there and would be back soon. One quick cup of hot chocolate and we were off to bed in our new jammies.

Favorite memories of gifts? Tiny Tears doll, a blackboard (so I could be like my 2nd grade teacher Miss Johnson), a stuffed monkey, an Easy Bake Oven and a new doll every year.

I’ve had wonderful Christmases as an adult. I’ve received beautiful presents, have had wonderful friends, nice places to live, wonderful spiritual experiences. There’s been so much to be grateful for at Christmas time, and yet… I think I will always yearn to feel that childlike innocence of believing that Santa will once again put those jammies on my pillow and that it’s really Rudolph streaking across the sky on Christmas Eve. That there will always be a plate of cookies without the worry of what the gluten or dairy. Believing in the magic once again.

Those are the memories I cherish.

Part 2 tomorrow.