Merry Christmas! May peace, love and joy fill your hearts this holiday season. I’m spending a leisurely morning at home sipping coffee and listening to Christmas carols. I’m also reflecting on Christmases past.
After living my entire life in Winnipeg, the past seven years has seen me in a variety of locations at this time of the year. I’ve celebrated Christmas in Cuba, Mazatlan, Culiacan, Tototlan and Guadalajara. I’ve shared meals with friends from Mexico, The Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Ireland, Hawaii, Ontario, British Columbia, Washington, England, Alberta, Colorado, Utah, California and New Zealand.
Although my life is in a constant flux of change and creating new holiday traditions, I still treasure the memories I have of family times. Perhaps someday I will again decorate a house and a tree and enjoy a flurry of activity in a kitchen cooking and baking. Those times were often exhausting and even overwhelming, but overall happy times.
Last night I attended a beautiful Christmas candlelight service at The Blue Church here in Centro. It was peaceful as our candles glowed in the dark and we sang Christmas carols. The final carol was O Holy Night, my alltime favorite. And the memories surfaced and brought tears to my eyes.
Years ago this carol found a special place in my heart. My daughter is a talented vocalist, and her solo at the Christmas concert that year was O Holy Night. It was an amazing performance and I still hear her voice even after all these years.
On a lighter note, my other memory of this carol also involves my daughter. She introduced me to the medley of Christmas music by Hanson which includes a delightful version of O Holy Night. And I listened to it again this morning.
Christmas dinner today will be with friends at Twisted Mama’s, a restaurant in The Gold Zone. We look forward to this annual feast of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. While the Mexicans enjoy their pozole, tamales and ponche on Christmas Eve, we gringos still have our big dinner on Christmas Day. Some habits do remain although the people and places always change.
Wherever you are, enjoy your time with family and friends. That is what is important today.
iamkaren23 