Every December, Laura and I enter our time machine. It has been stored for a year in the depths of our garage. Surprisingly, it’s contained in a series of plastic interlocking boxes, lighter than one would expect from such a piece of chronological technology.
There is a ceremony that pushes back the pages of our lives and for an evening allows us to journey backward through our years.
The tree is up, the lights are strung and slowly we begin a smile and tear-laced exercise in time travel.
Ornaments are pulled from their protected confines and the strategic placing upon the tree begins. It is not a haphazard exercise but instead one of planning, reflection, and joy. With a gleam in our eyes and soft smiles on our face we begin.
“Remember when Colin brought this home from school?”
“Here is Dylan’s with his sh__eating grin. Just like his dad.”
“Oh, our first Christmas together.” Could that date be right?
Out comes a silly snowman my dad had made in the 1960s and it still held together.
Memories flood our living room like the beams of a warm sunrise.
This season is always a special time in any year. It reminds us of how we became who we are. It locks in the connection we have with family, those here and those who have moved on. It also provides us a promise of something yet to come, something that should be filled with hope.
Andy tells his friend Red in the film; The Shawshank Redemption;
“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.”
The New Year gives us an opening for us to think about. We all come with an expiration date and new chances and hope make us reach for the most we can in the time we have.
I hope the memories you build this year will find a special place in your time machine.
From all of us to all of you,
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A JOYFUL AND HOPE FILLED NEW YEAR.
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