"Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"

..This old Christmas standard was on the TV last night and as my son and I watched it together I was transported back to a wonderful place and time:

I was about 1o years old and it was in the early 1970's. I was wearing my best flannel jammies (the white ones with the tiny pink flowers and bright pink ribbing along the lapels and cuffs) I had just had a bath and washed my hair and the scent of Baby's Own soap was thick and lovely in the air. I was lying on my belly with my elbows propped up and my hands under my chin and I was absorbing every nuance of the cartoon because I knew that it only came on TV at Christmastime. It was a very special treat indeed. We didnt have much, a tiny house with only 1 bathroom, 1 TV and 1 car, but we didn't want for anything either. I felt warm, safe and loved in my childhood home, and I was excited because it was CHRISTMAS TIME.

I remembered my Mum sitting on the gold velvet patterned 1970's sofa and patting the cusion beside her saying "come sit here honey and I'll do your hair". So I plopped myself beside her and she lovingly divided my long black hair into 8 separate bunches. Then she would carefully wind each handful of hair around a pink foam roller. Then she would "snap" the pink plastic clasp into place and move on to the next handful of hair: roll, snap, roll, snap, and so on. Then with a final toussle of my hair she would declare "you're done!", and I would lie back down on the floor on my belly to continue watching Peanuts real close-up.

As Mum headed back into the kitchen to finish the supper dishes, I could see Dad reading the evening newspaper in "his chair" with his big slippered feet propped up on the orange vinyl hassock with the humungous button in the middle. The post-style reading light (always placed on the right side of his chair..he was very particular about such things) illuminated just half of his rugged featured face.

Dad was definately King of his castle. His self-assigned job in our home was to always try to make the rest of us behave more quietly, or more politely or less "crazy"... Yeah, good luck with that one Dad! (ie) Mum, my brother and I laughed and played a lot, the "Irish" was always front & centre among the three of us.

You see, Dad was one-quarter of German descent and I believe that the well-disciplined bit of German spent a lifetime trying to take control of the rest of the fun-loving Irish blood in his veins. For the most part - the "German" part won out.

However, although Dad did like things to be orderly, I could always get a chuckle or a cuddle from him. Always.

Dad and I were definately put on this earth for each other: He needed my sense of whimsy "c'mon Dad, stop working for a minute and play with me".
And I, Lord knows, needed his work ethic and determination.

But back to Charlie Brown:

So throughout all the various scenes: Lucy and Schroeder's comical standoff about the proper way to play jingle bells, Linus' monologue on the true meaning of Christmas and finally the team's beautification of the dying Christmas tree, the elements & memories of my Christmases past danced merrily through my thoughts.

As a child I had absolutely no awareness about or ownership of the problems around paying bills, keeping a family together, or getting through day-to-day struggles. I was blissfully unaware. For a short, wonderful span of years I was allowed just to be me, to live and love and to be loved. I was Erin, I was treasured by my folks and I was safe.

As I was pondering my gratefulness toward blessings past and present, missing my Dad, feeling sad for those kids who do not have peace in their homes, I must have misted up a bit...

My son looked up at me with a quizzical look on his face, then he smiled knowingly, shook his head and said "Oh Mummy, you cry over everything - its only a cartoon!"
I blerted out something like "well its a really nice cartoon, and, and I am missing Nanny and Papa, and...." ...my little boy stood up, came over to where I was sitting, patted me gently said "its okay Mummy", and gave me a hug.

Thank you Lord for these blessings and memories and please bring some measure of happiness and peace into the lives of all children this Christmas.

Amen.