Christmas Music
First, I know that I’ve been absent. I apologize for the lack of attention to my blog. For the record, this is why I don’t have houseplants.
Today I was driving around from here to there doing the Christmas tasks - last minute shopping, shipping and the like. I was listening to a radio station that plays all Christmas music. In fact two stations. One plays more contemporary stuff, the other ‘traditional’ music. Listening to the traditional station, it got me to remembering when I was younger and that was all there really was to listen to.
Each year at Christmas, Ma would dig out the three or four Christmas albums we had that were stored out of reach of us kids (yes they were albums then, not CDs) and then she would queue them up on the hi-fi (if you have to ask what a hi-fi is…..). My favorite was the Firestone Christmas, a compilation of big artists and big songs. We’d listen to Bing and Andy and Burl and Ella and Nat sing the classics, and hymns and kids songs. Of course when I was younger, I really didn’t care for this stuff so much, just that it was Christmas. Now, I’ve found that I search these songs out each Christmas season.
A couple of years ago, I made a Christmas mix CD for Ma - many of these artists and songs I fondly remember were on iTunes, and I quickly downloaded some of them and made them into a Christmas keepsake. Looking back, I’m not sure who I truly chose the songs for, Ma or me, but either way, I’m happy with the songs I picked…they bring back good memories that changed only slightly from year to year, and best of all, I see my mom’s smile in when I hear them.
Thanks Ma for the tradition, and the great memories they bring.
