2019-07_July-TLP_Xmas_Day04_Earliest-Xmas-Memory_web

Credits: Rachel Jefferies - Fa La La La La, Shine Bright. Forever Joy - Believe. Dunia Designs - Heartsong Collab for Dawn Inskip. Kristin Aagard - Home for the Holidays.

153 words: I don’t recall the year, but I would suspect I was 4 or 5 years old. We were downstairs in my grandparent’s flat, all eleven of us, my grandparents, Uncle Max, Uncle Ted, Uncle Stan, Aunt Cathy, Mom, Dad, Ray, Joe and me. The women were busy preparing our Christmas Eve meal in the kitchen, the men and boys were nowhere to be found. Aunt Cathy made a pointed effort to not let me wander into the living room. She made me listen, she asked if I had heard the jingle bells and reindeer hooves. She whispered to me that Santa was here, and I needed to mind and stay with her so as not to disturb Santa. Soon enough I’d be able to see all of the presents that he had brought me. She was right. After the meal, the living room was filled with toys and gifts all under the tree.