Christmas 2011 motd

[Guest guest]

THE CHRISTMAS

TREE

Sunday, 25 December 2011

I got up very early this morning and no, I'm

not even going to tell you what time it was.

You'll only think I'm crazy. (And hey, maybe I am,

just a little! LOL.)

When I was growing up back

in New Orleans, I got up mighty early on Christmas

Day.

When I was growing up back on St. Louis Street in New

Orleans' French Quarter, I got up mighty early on

Christmas morning back then, too. How early? Well,

my mother, Shirley, would still be snoring, LOL. My

father, Leonard would also be sound asleep. And my

brother, Lenny, all curled up in his bed, was off in

dreamland. Even our dog, Mickey would still be

asleep. But, oh...not me!

I'd quietly crawl out of bed, find my way through the

darkness and into our living room. And there it was,

our beautiful Christmas tree. Oh, it looked kinda sad

because its lights needed to be turned on. So I'd

find the cord, plug the tree in and, oh, it was

like magic! I'd

just sit there staring at our tree, taking time to

admire, soak in and enjoy the beautiful ornaments and

twinkling lights.

My family had so much fun

decorating our tree at Christmas.

My family had so much fun decorating our tree at

Christmas. My father would come up with a different

theme each year. (He was so good at that.) One year,

we had a green Christmas tree with all red

ornaments. Another year, we had a white tree with

silver ornaments. And, of course, I can remember all

of the flocked Christmas trees we had at 926 St. Louis

Street from Christmases past. Oh, so many holiday

memories!

One of my treats every Christmas season was going

ornament shopping with my mother. We'd visit several

stores along Canal Street, taking our time so we could

admire New Orleans' magnificent Christmas decorations

as we shopped. Our fun-filled mission was to find the

perfect ornaments for our family's Christmas tree.

It would be so wonderful to

have my mother, father and Lenny all here with me so

we could decorate just one more Christmas tree

together.

I am so blessed to have the family Christmas album

Lenny put together and gave me years ago. Oh, it's

just filled with holiday memories, photos of our

family celebrating so many Christmas holidays, years

ago. As I thumb through my album this time of year, I

just about cry my little eyes out. See, I'm thinking

it would be so wonderful to have my mother, father

and brother all here with me so we could decorate just

one more Christmas tree together.

So, you can see why I'm up early. I'm keeping my

early-morning Christmas tradition going. I went

downstairs to my foyer, turned my Christmas tree's

lights on and sat in front of the tree just like when

I was a kid...back on St. Louis Street. As I sit this

Christmas morning, I look at all of the ornaments I've

collected over the past 30 years. I know my mom and

dad would be very happy with the way I decorated my

tree this year.

I love you all so much.

It's wonderful having such beautiful Christmas

memories. I have so many and I know you do, too. I

hope you'll think about those memories today and get a

comforting feeling from them. I truly hope this

Christmas will be another memorable one for you and

your families. And one more thing. Today, as you're

admiring your own beautiful Christmas tree, I hope

that among your memories, you'll be thinking of me. I

love you all so much.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

Love,