Christmas Stories Help Christmas Spirit
_ by Brother Rogers
What does it take to get you in the Christmas spirit?
For many of us, it’s music. We like singing carols in church and hearing Christmas specials sung by church choirs.
We also have our favorite Christmas songs we enjoy on Christmas CDs or now on satellite radio. One of my favorites is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Somehow I didn’t know until this year that this song was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
That’s one of those facts that I thought, “Dang, everyone around me has known that for years and somehow I just learned it.” I hope that happens to other people too.
For others, movies help them get into the Christmas spirit. My brother recently attended a party themed after National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation.” He dressed up as Uncle Eddie (No, I didn’t ask if it was an easy transition). I just discovered Jimmy Stewart in “The Shop Around the Corner” a few years ago, and now it’s on my must-see list. I still choke up at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life” even though I know what’s coming.
Certain television shows also help us get into the Christmas spirit. The good news is that in the DVD-era, we don’t have to wait for that one night to make sure we see Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman or the Grinch.
One of my favorite classic TV Christmas shows is “The Little Drummer Boy.” Greer Garson’s narration is soothing, and it’s one of the few shows that focuses on the real Christmas story.
Decorating is a major way we get into the Christmas spirit, from poinsettias inside to lights outside the house. Every family has their own Christmas tree tradition. As a kid, I remember my parents spray-painting our tree. They called it flocking the tree. I’m glad that fad has faded.
Perhaps my most favorite Christmas tradition is telling time-honored family stories. Every family has those special stories they tell at Christmas about something funny the kids once said or something crazy one of the relatives did.
The one told and retold the most in my family took place in Starkville about 1970. My Uncle Bill was 21 years old and had his private pilot’s license. On the night of Christmas Eve, he asked if my brother and I, ages 5 and 6, wanted to go for a ride in an airplane as a Christmas treat. He had a little Cessna at Bryan Field.
We were thrilled at this chance and looking back, he was probably getting us out of the house to allow Santa to do some work. I don’t know how long we had been flying, but it didn’t take long for an emergency to arise. My brother and I started screaming and crying. The emergency was the fact that it was dark and looking out the window, we saw Rudolph’s red nose. Santa was on the way to our house, and we were not in bed!
Both of us in a panic lay prostrate on the floor of the plane trying to get out of sight. My uncle realized we had seen the red light on top of a radio tower. He says he never saw two boys go to sleep that fast when we returned home.
Enjoy telling your stories and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
What does it take to get you in the Christmas spirit?
For many of us, it’s music. We like singing carols in church and hearing Christmas specials sung by church choirs.
We also have our favorite Christmas songs we enjoy on Christmas CDs or now on satellite radio. One of my favorites is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Somehow I didn’t know until this year that this song was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
That’s one of those facts that I thought, “Dang, everyone around me has known that for years and somehow I just learned it.” I hope that happens to other people too.
For others, movies help them get into the Christmas spirit. My brother recently attended a party themed after National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation.” He dressed up as Uncle Eddie (No, I didn’t ask if it was an easy transition). I just discovered Jimmy Stewart in “The Shop Around the Corner” a few years ago, and now it’s on my must-see list. I still choke up at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life” even though I know what’s coming.
Certain television shows also help us get into the Christmas spirit. The good news is that in the DVD-era, we don’t have to wait for that one night to make sure we see Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman or the Grinch.
One of my favorite classic TV Christmas shows is “The Little Drummer Boy.” Greer Garson’s narration is soothing, and it’s one of the few shows that focuses on the real Christmas story.
Decorating is a major way we get into the Christmas spirit, from poinsettias inside to lights outside the house. Every family has their own Christmas tree tradition. As a kid, I remember my parents spray-painting our tree. They called it flocking the tree. I’m glad that fad has faded.
Perhaps my most favorite Christmas tradition is telling time-honored family stories. Every family has those special stories they tell at Christmas about something funny the kids once said or something crazy one of the relatives did.
The one told and retold the most in my family took place in Starkville about 1970. My Uncle Bill was 21 years old and had his private pilot’s license. On the night of Christmas Eve, he asked if my brother and I, ages 5 and 6, wanted to go for a ride in an airplane as a Christmas treat. He had a little Cessna at Bryan Field.
We were thrilled at this chance and looking back, he was probably getting us out of the house to allow Santa to do some work. I don’t know how long we had been flying, but it didn’t take long for an emergency to arise. My brother and I started screaming and crying. The emergency was the fact that it was dark and looking out the window, we saw Rudolph’s red nose. Santa was on the way to our house, and we were not in bed!
Both of us in a panic lay prostrate on the floor of the plane trying to get out of sight. My uncle realized we had seen the red light on top of a radio tower. He says he never saw two boys go to sleep that fast when we returned home.
Enjoy telling your stories and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.