The holidays are a magical time … or, at least, they used to be?  Lately, however, the holidays have felt like more of a burden of ‘Have To” rather than “Get To”.   “I have to bake and wrap and shop and cook and ship and send and save and spend…”
Nobody, anymore, says they “get to” go to the mall or “get to” decorate!  Let’s face it, long to-do lists are never associated with a spirit of joyfulness, and to-do lists are never longer than during the holiday season.  Even holiday parties feel more like obligations rather than celebrations. This year, however, I am determined to change this feeling and find a moment, or two, of the holiday magic I once felt as a child.
I will remember, when I put up my tree, how excited I was as a kid to find that perfect tree with the perfect arrangement of branches: enough room on the bottom for lots of presents and just right on the top to hold the angel and the most delicate ornaments that only my parents were allowed to hang.
I will remember, when I bake, how glorious the house smelled when my mother was baking her gingerbread for our beloved gingerbread house creation—always the same construction method but, somehow, always the “best one yet!”
I will remember, when I place my candles in the window, how absolutely magical it was to see lights wrapped around windows, or wreaths, or bushes or trees and how, at the age of 9, I was insistent that the lights I saw streaming across the sky, one Christmas Eve, were certainly Santa’s sleigh on its way somewhere.  I will remember, when I am ordering my gifts from Amazon, how serious I was to write my Christmas list to Mr. Claus, wondering if I had, indeed, been ‘good enough’ to receive my most coveted request.
I will remember, when I am picking my number for the secret Santa ritual at the office Christmas party, how my dear late aunt used to knit mismatched mittens or slippers as gifts to randomly remembered family members and how truly special those holiday gatherings were. 
This holiday season I will try to remember to see brighter and breathe deeper.  I will turn up the volume on the radio and belt out a holiday tune in the car or hum one quietly, yet deliberately, at work.  I will put out my Christmas dishes even though I am not home for dinner often enough to use them.  I will search high and low in Walmart for the elusive Book of Life Savers.   I will buy the big bag of mixed whole nuts even though my father is the only one who eats one or two.    I will wear red and decorate with fresh greens.
But, most importantly, this year, I will remember that the point of the holidays, and why we HAVE TO do so many things, is because we GET TO pass along the magic of the season to our children, our grandchildren and to anyone else we happen to meet. Truth be told, there is no better feeling than being able to give a heartfelt and deeply deserved present to someone we love, or, better yet, to someone we don’t even know!
BELIEVE! BELIEVE!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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