The Best Christmas Ever: Remembering Christmas With Emily

There is nothing to compare to the wonder and magic that a child experiences at Christmas. When my sons were small, there were many such moments. The look of awe on their faces the first time they spied the brightly lit tree surrounded with presents, their first gingerbread house and cookie day, to name a few. Thankfully, the last several years I have experienced more such moments with my grandchildren. However, this is "the best Christmas ever", according to my granddaughter, Emily. Emily is four years old. She has a love for all things Christmas. This year Emily was a big girl and able to help me with Christmas. She helped me to fetch and carry and place our treasures around the house. She was a perfectionist and tireless when it came to the placement of ornaments on the tree. Little did I expect that a, slightly worse for wear, sprig of green taken from the boxes would become a priceless Christmas moment. Our conversation, on discovering it , went something like this: "What's that, Gram?" "Mistletoe." "What's that for?" "We hang it in a doorway and when you stand underneath it , someone has to kiss you." Her eyes lit up to rival the lights on the tree. "They have to kiss you?" "Yup." The minute the mistletoe was hung, she took me at my word. She raced to stand under it and looked at me expectantly. Of course, she got her kiss then and for about every twenty minutes thereafter, for the rest of the day. When her father came to pick her up, that night, we heard a little sing-song voice coming from the direction of the hallway. "I'm standing under the mistletoe." "What's she doing?" "She's standing under the mistletoe. You need to go kiss her, daddy." "Oh! Okay. I'm coming Emily." Since then Emily and the mistletoe have become a regular part of every visit. Even her ten year old brother, Michael , has learned the power of the mistletoe. While he is much too mature to call out his location, when it is time for goodbye kisses, you will find him waiting under the mistletoe. At our last family gathering, on hearing the now familiar, "I'm standing under the mistletoe", several voices answered in unison, "I'm coming Emily" and headed for the hallway. I think Emily may be right. This may be, " the best Christmas ever"!