I love my Dave.  And he loves Christmas. 

For 28 Christmases now, he has worked hard, planned, created, wrapped, shopped, baked, played, decorated and done whatever else is necessary to create a magical, love-filled, memory-made Christmas for our family.  Christmas mornings at our house are legendary feasts of extravagant indulgence and convivial love banquets of gifts and good smells and laughter and mountains of giftwrap and the music of Christmas and the love of the most incredible husband-father-grandfather.  It isn’t about the money spent, for often there has been precious-little of that, but it’s the thoughtful generosity of spirit, gifts that remind the recipient: you are loved, cherished and appreciated-this is my token of that.  But – wrap all of that in a huge Christmas bow and you have the gift of the season that my husband puts much great effort in to.

You are the original Clark Griswold, honey.  You are George Bailey and Father O’Malley ringing the bells of Christmas.  You are my handsome Jefferson Jones, my lover by tree-light.  You are Kris Kringle and Santa Claus.  You are the man described in “Holiday Inn” in the exchange between Jim Hardy and Miss Linda Mason (Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds).

Linda:  You’re a lot like my father – just a man with a family.  Never amounted to much, never really cared.  But as long as he was alive, we had food to eat and clothes to keep us warm.

Jim:  Were you happy?

Linda:  Very.

Jim:  Well, then your father was a successful man.  I hope I can do as well.

Yes, baby, you are Mr. Christmas.  I love that you are.  I love that you are ever-committed to making merry for all.  I am smiling at how excited you are to be organizing the decorations – getting ready to haul them out in mere days.  You know where everything is and you’re planning, with a twinkle in your eye, to give us yet another wonderful Christmas.

As the Carpenters once sang: Merry Christmas, Darling…Jeanie

From Dickens’ A Christmas Carol~

“…and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.  May that truly be said of us, all of us!  And so, as Tiny Tim observed, ‘God bless us, Every One!'”

NOTE TO SELF: Love the Christmas keeper.

characters above from some of our favorite Christmas movies, including: Christmas Vacation, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bells of Saint Mary’s, Christmas in Connecticut, Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday Inn

pictured: sweet daughter, Stormie did the graphic for me, from a photo of Dave and a Bing Crosby album.