A Letter To You- A Note On Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, the sun has gone down and Nat King Cole is singing in the background. The trees are lit and grandma"s village is set up around the house. It smells of spices and baked goods in preparation for tomorrows dinner.

There are a few presents under the tree and the stockings we have hanging over the fire have a few small parcels in them.

 Mom and Dad are waiting until we go to bed to put their presents under the tree and fill the stockings like the elves of Christmas.

As I gaze at our stockings, I look at where your's should be. A small one hangs there now, as a remembrance.

I imagine which one you would have. One like ours, of burlap and muslin and lace? Or the brown velvety suede one? Or would it be the one with cream and tan ticking?

I imagine it filled with toys and fruit. A little cup. A new toothbrush. Maybe some chocolate covered nuts and raisins. A stuffed animal sitting in the top with an old-fashioned candy cane between his paws.

I imagine you opening a present tonight, a pair of pajamas. Just like we got every Christmas Eve.

I imagine what would happen tomorrow if you were here. Waking up early and runing down stairs to open presents, smiling with anticipation of what they could be. Toys and books. A new coat and pair of boots. A hat and some earmuffs. A pair of mittens and a warm scarf.

I imagine what could be. What might be. About how much more magical it would be with you here.


Merry Christmas, my little one.

A Letter To You- A Christmas Poem

Christmas is here and I miss you all the more.

I think of all the things we could do.

The presents I would buy.

The traditions we could start.

To read you the stories I was read.

Of mangers and Magi and shepherds and of St. Nicholas too.

And of how our traditions got started

Of baking and cooking.

Of sledding and skating and snowball making.

Of caroling or plays of Christmas in bathrobes and towels.

Of making snow angels and snowman.

Of roasting marshmallows in the fireplace while listening to carols.

Of drinking hot chocolate while watching the snowfall.

Of cuddling up on the couch and watch our favorite Christmas movies.

Of decorating the tree and put the star on top.

Of wrapping gifts for one another.

To tell you the stories of Christmases past, present, and future.

To tell you the importance of that one night, so long ago.

Of why we celebrate this day.

For that is the most important of all little one.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Advent is here along with, hopefully, the desire for family and tradition come with it. Christmas is a special time for me, especially as I think of Christmases past or the traditions I would start if the loved ones we have lost were still here.

So in this post, I will share my favorite Christmas movies, books and radio dramas that our family has enjoyed. I hope that you will take the list and make some of them part of your own tradition.

Movies:

 
The First Christmas
Commercial Christmas mayhem is reigning supreme in the Quantum household. After Chris offhandedly remarks that the family nativity scene is just another decoration like a reindeer or Santa's elves, Superbook whisks off our heroes on a journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas!


The Bishop's Wife
A bishop trying to get a new cathedral built prays for guidance. An angel arrives, but his guidance isn't about fundraising.


 
White Christmas
A successful song-and-dance team becomes romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

 
It's A Wonderfull Life
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

 
The Christmas Card
A US soldier visits a small town in hopes he can find the family that sent him a Christmas card.

 
Miracle on 34th Street
In this Christmas classic, when an old man claims to be Santa he is taken to court, a lawyer takes his case. To prove that he is who he says he is.

 
Holiday Inn
At a Connecticut inn open on holidays, romance and comedy abound when a singer and dancer compete for the hand of a beautiful performer.

 
The Star Of Christmas
Cavis Appythart and Millward Phelps (Bob and Larry) create a holiday musical in an effort to "teach London to love." However, their hearts aren't in the right place, and the play has more electrical lights than well-meaning words. When they learn that a church plans a meager the nativity play for the same night, Cavis, and Millward panic and try to sabotage them. But in the end, the boys will learn their lesson and discover the true meaning of Christmas.


A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown goes on a journey to find the true meaning of Christmas.


And then you have the Christmas Carol movies and adaptations:

 
A Christmas Carol 
An old miser is taken on a journey of redemption by three visitors on Christmas Eve.


 
Mickey's Christmas Carol 
Join Mickey Mouse and the gang in the cartoon this adaptation of a Christmas classic starring Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. Many other Disney characters from the world of Mickey Mouse, Robin Hood, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.


The Ghost And Mrs. Muir: The Ghost of Christmas Past
I love this show and this episode is my favorite. I'm kind of in love with Captain Gregg and his old-fashioned morels. Its a forgotten quality in a man.

The residents of Gull Cottage receive a special gift for Christmas. A dream of what could be thanks to the Captain. In the dream, Carolyn works for Claymore, a real Scrooge indeed.  After an evening of being haunted by his own conscious.


 
Saving Christmas
Kirk Cameron is enjoying the Christmas party thrown by his sister until he learns that his brother-in-law, Christian, feels that Christmas has become too commercialized and has strayed too far from the holiday's origins. Kirk's fresh look at Christmas provides Christians the chance to see Christ is where He has always been: at the center of our Christmas celebrations and traditions.


 
The Christmas Candle
In 19th-century England, a minister's quest to modernize his village puts him at odds with people who believe that whoever lights the candle that an angel touched will receive a miracle on Christmas Eve.


 
The Legend of the Candy Cane
A mysterious stranger rides into a prairie town and tells the tale of the legend of the candy cane.


 
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
When a broken hearted boy loses the treasured wooden nativity set that links him to his dead father. His worried mother persuades a lonely ill-tempered woodcarver to create a replacement, and allow her son to watch him work on it.

Books:

 
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows about the mementos of his lost wife and child that he keeps in an unopened drawer. But one early winter’s day, a widow and her young son approach him with a gentle request that leads to a joyful miracle.


 
The Legend of the Candy Cane
A mysterious stranger rides into a prairie town and tells the tale of the legend of the candy cane.

 
The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas

Celebrate Christmas with the advent tradition of “The Jesse Tree.”


 
Humphrey's First Christmas
Follow the story of Humphrey the camel and his journey to Bethlehem.


 
The Candymaker's Gift
An old candymaker wants to give his granddaughter a special gift for Christmas,  to help her remember the true meaning of Christmas.


 
God Gave Us Christmas
Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious little polar bear begins to wonder -Who invented Christmas-. With Mama’s guidance, he learns about the very first Christmas and finds that Jesus is the best present of all.


 
Legend of the Christmas Stocking
In the late 1800's a newsboy named Peter hears the story of St. Nicholas and discovers the meaning behind the tradition of the Christmas stocking.


 
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale
One cold winter's night, in his stable, a kind ox welcomes animals looking for warmth and shelter. When a tired donkey arrives, led by Mary and Joseph the ox welcomes them in. For there's always room for a little one here.


 
The Legend of the Christmas Tree
In The Legend of the Christmas Tree, you will discover the wonderful story of how the evergreen tree first became a symbol of Christmas and a way to tell people about God.


 
The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving
Nicholas spent his life secretly helping the poor all over the world, giving gifts on Christmas Eve to remind people of the greatest Gift of all, Jesus Christ.



Mary's First Christmas
Gather near and hear a wondrous story, told long ago by a mother to her very special son as she tells of his own birth and the remarkable events that surrounded it.


 
The Christmas Candle
On Christmas Eve, Thomas buys a magical candle that changes the way he views his fellow human beings and helps him feel charity for those less fortunate than he.


 
Jacob's Gift
The story of a young carpenter and his gift to a special baby on what would be the most special night of his life.

 
The Gift of the Magi
A young married couple deal with the challenge of making Christmas special with very little money to spend.


 
The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus' Birth
It’s the Christmas season during a time when people had little money to spend. Cookie jars held pennies, not Christmas cookies. So when Jack smells something delicious coming from the kitchen, he can’t believe his nose. Cookies! But his excitement turns to disappointment when he learns the cookies aren’t for him. Instead, Mother is baking them for the needy people at their church. While Jack helps roll out the dough, his mother tells him the legend of the Christmas cookie.


 
The Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree 
Depression-era New York City, eight-year-old Henry and his father selling Christmas trees. They give a Christmas tree to construction workers building Rockefeller Center and celebrate together. Through the kindness of the construction workers and neighbors, Henry gets his wish for a nice, warm home to replace his family's drafty shack. He plants a pinecone from that first Rockefeller Center Tree. As an old man, Henry repays the gift by donating the enormous tree that has grown from that pinecone to become a Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. After bringing joy to thousands as the Rockefeller Center tree, its wood will be used to build a home for another family in need.


 
The Crippled Lamb
Joshua was a lamb with a crippled leg who felt left out because he couldn’t run and play like the other lambs. But God had a very special plan for Joshua’s life.



The Twelve Prayers of Christmas
Many were present the night Jesus Christ was born. Joseph and Mary were there, their hearts filled with peace. So were the donkey, the lamb, and the three Wise Men. Even the Star of Bethlehem looked on, casting a single heavenly beam of light upon the scene. This book gives voice to every creature present on that miraculous night and shares their twelve special prayers to the Christ Child.

Audio/Radio Drama's:

 
A Christmas Carol (Radio Theatre)
Charles Dickens's beloved story of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future in a 90-minute full-cast drama production.
Adventures In Odyssey

 
Back to Bethlehem, Part 1, Back to Bethlehem, Part 2 & Back to Bethlehem, Part 3
Connie and Eugene discover that the first Nativity wasn't how they imagined it at all.


 
The Star, Part 1 & The Star, Part 2
Connie and Eugene take another Christmas trip in the Imagination Station to meet King Herod, three wise men, and the baby Jesus.


 
The Living Nativity
A nativity display at Odyssey's city hall sparks a controversy over the “separation of church and state.”

 
A Time for Christmas
Whit takes middle-schooler Courtney Vincent on an Imagination Station tour of Christmases past.

 
Unto Us a Child Is Born
On Christmas Eve, Jimmy produces a live Kids' radio presentation of the birth of Jesus--which includes an unexpected real birth.

 
B-TV: Redeeming the Season
Bernard Walton and the B-TV crew explore the legend of Saint Nicholas and how many Christmas customs first began.

And with that, I bid you farewell and Merry Christmas.