Blissful Christmas

Every year I feel the magic of Christmas gradually fading. It makes me sad because I have a love for the magic season. I love Christmas more than I love dancing, books, clothes, and almost more than boys (sorry Warren). I love everything about Christmas: the tacky lights, the over sized homemade ornaments, fires, eggnog (which, by the way, is the only thing I can drink until I get sick and then go back for more), mistletoe, Santa stories, generously frosted Christmas cookies, claustrophobic kitchens and even the snow (we are are really good buddies now).

For an unknown reason, the magic of Christmas was beginning to come back to me this year.

I was determined to figure out why I originally lost a lot of the Christmas magic, I realized I think I was trying too hard to feel it in the first place. The magic of Christmas just has to come natural to you. If you pull on it too hard and want it too bad, then you’ll have a hard time surrounding yourself in its rich nutmeg smelling warmth. Don’t pull on it too hard, or you may not get it.

Perhaps it could also be partially due to the fact that this will be my first Christmas living away from home. Of course I’ll be driving the 2 miles to my parents house every day during the holidays, and doing such I’ll be listening to the sweet Christmas joys of the Duerden household. Typically, these include the arguing of my mother wanting my father to stop being such a Scrooge and my father retorting back that he needs to get his grading done, otherwise next year there will be no Christmas. Then my mother telling my sister Shannon and her husband that they can’t smoke in the front yard anymore because the neighbors are walking by. Maybe the fact that I have been away from all the Christmas preparations so far, I can finally begin to feel the excitement and magic. Up near BYU all there are right now is stress from finals and excitement that comes with the end of the semester. There are decorations here and there, but mostly all you hear are people being hushed by others all over campus by students trying to memorize every fact about existentialism, excretion, endoplasmic reticulum—the basic college stuff.

Could the reason for this newly found excitement be that now I am becoming less crazy and wild? Maybe now I can finally focus on the good and wonderful things about Christmas.

Whatever the reason is, I’m just glad I feel it’s here. This year I can feel Santa’s laugh and I know I am happy for the holidays. What a great excuse to spend a great time of year with the people you love.