Jack’s Mid-Missouri Memory: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

They say anticipation is often better than the event. If that is true then the best time any of us has ever had, has to be on a Christmas Eve. That may not be true when we grow up, but think back to those days from ages five to say 20. I for one can remember how exciting that day was, and how it seemed to take forever to get through. I would walk by the tree at least a thousand times, stopping to finger the packages, trying to get some inkling of the treasures inside them, until mom ran me outside to play, so I wouldn’t think about them. Of course that never worked, because then I was outside with all the other kids talking about what we thought the packages contained. Christmas Eve was the one night of the year, that no one had to tell me and my sister to go to bed; we were usually there very early trying to force ourselves to go to sleep, so morning would come.  For some reason Christmas Eve night seemed to be filled with more sounds designed to keep little boys and girls awake than any other nights I can remember, and no matter how deep I buried my head in the covers, I could still hear them. Of course when I was younger part of the night was spent listening for sleigh bells, and tiny hooves on my roof. Santa is smarter than that however, he knows when you’re awake, and no matter how hard I tried to fake it by pretending to snore, I guess he knew. You know come to think of it Christmas Eve is still one of my favorite times, although for different reasons. As I sit in my chair on Christmas Eve now, as a somewhat mature man, I still wonder what the packages made out to Jack, Dad, and Grandpa have in them, but I am less inclined to finger them now.  The main feeling I seem to experience now even more than the anticipation, is a sense of relief, that all the preparation for Christmas are over; and my wife who has taken care of the lions share of the shopping, wrapping, and the worrying about getting finished in time for Christmas Day can now relax and enjoy the fruits of her labor. I do however still have a problem getting to sleep on Christmas Eve night; you would be surprised how much squirrels running across a roof sounds like tiny reindeer hooves hitting the shingles.