Christmas Magic

So yesterday's post was bit...shall we say facetious. Since this is my last post until Christmas is over, I'll make it more in keeping with the holiday spirit. Because, I swear, I am not a Scrooge.

Do you remember what it was like to be a kid at Christmas time? Everything seemed larger than life. The lights were brighter, the trees were bigger, the cookies were tastier, and Santa was The Man. As an adult, I miss that. As a kid, Christmas is about the magic. We sort of lose that once we know Santa isn't real and Rudolph does not live at the North Pole or anywhere else for that matter. I'm not saying Christmas is less special to adults or that we lose the true meaning of Christmas, simply that we tend to forget what Christmas meant to us as children. Children believe and so they see what we adults don't because we usually want to see first.

I believed in Santa for the longest time. I still believe in the spirit of Santa, but not the actual person. I saw Santa when I was 4 years old and so I had the hardest time letting go of him. My parents woke my sister and me up late one Christmas Eve and they had us peek out of our bedroom door. From our door we could see the dining room table and there was Santa. He was eating the cookies and drinking the milk. It was amazing! As a child, that was magic in its greatest and rarest form. The legend that we knew about, but never got to see was in our dining room. (We did see Santa in the mall, but we had been taught that the Santa in the mall wasn't really Santa, but one of his many elves working for him because Santa wouldn't leave the North Pole except on Christmas Eve.) Santa was real to me for the longest time and I can remember being heartbroken when I found out it was really my Pap dressed up in a costume.

Christmas still does have a magical power that will hopefully never fade. Instead of coming in the form of Old St. Nick, eight tiny reindeer, and presents made by elves in the North Pole that magically appear under the tree, Christmas magic comes from family and those that you love gathered in your house exchanging gifts and remembering funny stories from the past year.

One of my all-time favorite holiday traditions is reading The Night Before Christmas. As a kid, this story helped solidify the existence of Santa and his reindeer. As an adult, I enjoy the timeless tradition and the feelings of "Maybe. Just maybe." that I get when I hear the story. I also like that the only person in the story to actually see Santa is an adult.

When I was a kid the magic of Christmas was in everything that was created for me. Christmas in and of itself was magic. As I get older though, I learn that the magic of Christmas comes from me and from my family and friends. The miracles and magnificence of the holidays does not come from things I believe in, but rather from the real love and laughter of everyone I'm with during the holidays. When I do have kids I hope that I can teach them that by believing in an unforeseen sparkly holiday magic as kids, one day they will understand the real magic of Christmas.

The Gratitude Campaign

TripleE over at Oh! That's Gonna Leave A Mark posted a video on Sunday for a new campaign called The Gratitude Campaign. Basically, the campaign is helping to give American citizens a way to thank American soldiers without saying a word. The idea is great and I think we can all relate in some way or another.

Whether your the citizen who wants to give thanks or the soldier who is receiving the thanks, but neither of you know what to say next, this campaign helps get rid of that uncomfortable silence. As I mentioned in a previous post, Stonewall really appreciates when people thank him, but he's always afraid of what people will say next. To help alleviate any anxieties of both parties that can come from speaking to any stranger, The Gratitude Campaign is introducing a hand signal that says, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Who's The Selfish One?

Disclaimer: I am pissed. This has absolutely nothing to do with the Army, but like I said I am pissed.

You know what bothers me? When you're in the middle of a fight and the other person yells at you for being selfish and only thinking about yourself because you want to get your way. HELLO?! Isn't that what a fight is? You want your way, they want their way and you can't seem to reach a common ground? Obviously, I'm thinking about myself, you idgit. If I wasn't we wouldn't be fighting.

But, wait a second, let's take a look at this picture shall we? Aren't you being just as selfish and only thinking about yourself and what you want? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Seriously. Let's just call a spade a spade here and you can stop flinging your hypocrisies at me and trying to guilt me into agreeing with you. Then we can both just continue to be the selfish assholes that we are at the moment.

Snowball Express

Its been said many times before, but I'll say it again: The holidays can be some of the hardest times for military families. And if you've lost a parent or spouse to the War on Terrorism, the holidays can be even harder. A new charity called The Snowball Express is trying to bring some holiday cheer into the lives of the families of fallen soldiers. To learn more about this wonderful organization and how you can help you can watch the video below or click on the link above to visit their website.


Orphans of war

Christmas in Fallujah

I've always been a Billy Joel fan. He sings amazing songs and plays a mean piano. Who hasn't jammed to Piano Man, Uptown Girl, River of Dreams and tried to sing along with We Didn't Start the Fire? He even has an entire play/musical, Movin' On, based on his music and it is one of the best I've ever seen on stage. I've got to say though, I'm less than impressed with his new song, Christmas in Fallujah. Now granted, he is only the songwriter. There is no piano and it is sung by Cass Dillon, an up-and-coming new artist, but it is still be touted as a Joel song.

Apparently, the song was written because Joel received several letters from servicemen and women and Joel feels (perhaps because of what was expressed in the letters) that the American people are forgetting about our soldiers overseas. After listening to the song though, I feel it is more anti-war than support our troops. Maybe Joel is hoping that lyrics such as, "I'm fading from your memory/So I'm just as good as dead" and "And we ain't never coming home" will help Americans to remember that our troops are fighting overseas.

I'm not really sure what Joel was going for, but I'm almost insulted by the song. I say "almost" because I can't really make up my mind. On the one hand, maybe this is a way to remind those who have forgotten, but on the other hand, everyday I read blogs and comments from other spouses, friends, and readers, as well as talk to the families of Stonewall's unit, who do nothing but remember every single second of every single day and it insults me that a songwriter is going to write what he thinks my soldier is thinking when he's actually in Fallujah for Christmas.

I have mixed feelings about this song. This is a video of the performance in Chicago. The lyrics are posted at the bottom of the screen. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Your Secret Is My Prayer

Every Monday, while reading my favorite blogs, I make sure to include Post Secret. The point behind PS is that anyone can anonymously send a postcard with their secret to the authors. I think PS is a great idea. As the writer, you can finally let your secret out to the entire world, but no one has to know its you. As the reader, well, you may never know who the author is, but then again...you just might.

Yesterday, this secret was posted:


This may or may not have been written by soldier. I think it was. This soldier could be any and every soldier. Next year, it could be my soldier. This is a secret we never speak of. Because if we don't say it, we don't jinx anything, and then it doesn't happen. Right?