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FROM THE EDITOR: Find Christmas joy wherever you can

By Ben Rodgers
Editor


If you are anything like me, it won’t be long until you start to resemble Santa Claus.

Hairs as white as the pure, driven snow are starting to crop up on the top of my head and on my chin.

Thanks to large meals and Christmas cookies, my growing waistline is helping expedite my transformation into Jolly Old St. Nick.

Naturally, this is my body telling me “Hey, slow down and relax for a minute!” and “Maybe you should eat a salad.”

But with Christmas mere days away, the stress is obviously starting to wear thin on me.

Parking lots around the mall on the weekends are nearing capacity, church is more packed, drivers on highways seem to be even more erratic and all I want for Christmas is to curl up under a blanket and nod off for a few hours.

However, at a recent Breakfast with Santa event hosted by the Beja Shriners, I caught a glimpse into why we deal with all the stress.

Children with bright smiles donned their best holiday apparel and led their parents straight up to Santa Claus.

Everyone told Santa what he or she wanted and most children looked into his eyes with glee and awe on their faces.

Only a few cried out in fear of the friendly man from the North Pole who they had never seen before.

They decorated cookies, colored pictures, got their faces painted and of course enjoyed a tasty breakfast (complete with orange juice and milk poured by yours truly).

For a moment, my stress melted away, then I had to pour 12 drinks for a table that just arrived.

But we can all find solace when thinking back to when we were much younger, and how we all felt around Christmas.

Christmas is truly a magical time of the year when we remember the joy we had as youngsters.

That joy is still there as an adult, but it feels more fleeting.

Activities with the younger generation, like decorating the tree, baking cookies and getting heavy-handed with the frosting, and rewatching “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and realizing a cartoon made in 1965 still holds true to this day, are good ways to remember Christmas joy.

Sure, stores are going to be packed with last-minute shoppers, but that just means more people want to provide a memorable Christmas for their families.

Church might be more crowded, but it’s never a bad thing when more people are looking for the true meaning of the season.

I have no defense for the wild drivers, but I like to think it’s more people who want to spend Christmas with their extended families.

I’ll even get my Christmas wish of a nap in peace, aided by a healthy helping of cheesy potatoes from the crock pot I’ll neglect to work off in the new year.

If you are feeling stressed before this Christmas season, remember we can all grasp on to the childish joy we once felt.

Have a Merry Christmas, and remember to slow down and enjoy these moments before they become memories.

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