DON'T EVER LOSE YOUR SENSE OF WONDER!

 

Can you meet a person for a fleeting moment and fall in love with them?

I believe the answer is YES!!! Absolutely. It happened to me last night.

 I have some dear dear friends who love to celebrate Christmas with me. We have traditions and holiday rituals that mean a great deal to me.

Last night we went to the Festival of Trees at Elm Bank Reservation. It is an annual gift from one of my friends.

This wonderful event is so cozy that I just swoon when I think of it. Once on the reservation you have to drive up a long and windy road aligned with woodlands and trees. With some snow still on the ground it was heavenly and truly serene simply driving to get there. And since I was playing Christmas Carols in the car I was in the mood for a little celebration. I parked and met my friends.

From Elm Bank Website

Once you give your ticket they give you some hot chocolate and you wait for the rest of your small group to gather. Given the cold air and all the colored Christmas lights in the gardens, I was already enjoying myself before we even entered the gates.

The event is inside and out, and with masks and very small groups it was safe and a lot of fun.

 There were two large rooms filled with adorned Christmas trees This alone is exciting for those of us who can’t get enough Christmas.  (my last blog post was about my family’s love for Christmas and Christmas trees) www.reneegold.com

They are all extremely well decorated with themes from money on trees, cook books on trees, teddy bears, and even a Charlie Brown Tree! You can even enter the raffle (which we did) to win one of them.

The following is from their website: Tree sizes vary from one foot to nine feet in height and some have gifts in addition to the decorations.

Another and totally different experience is provided by Snow Village, an indoor exhibit occupying a whole room.  This large display features model trains wending their way through villages and vignettes, including Christmas in the City (Boston of course!), Fenway Park, a Dickensian village, the North Pole and hundreds of decorated houses and lights.  There are too many Santa’s to count as well as skaters galore.  This is a visual treat for young and old alike and each year it is a little different.

Visitors can keep warm and cozy melting S’mores at the fire pit. This is all so Christmassy.

Yet as wonderful as this all is, and was, turns out for me this is not the most magical part. The reason I am writing this post is what happened when we were leaving.

Of course I was feeling immersed with Christmas Magic and in the best mood. I was surrounded by holiday merriment, Christmas trees, and close friends. …

So as we were walking out of the gardens, as I passed the exit gate, I could see in the near distance the happiest little girl in the whole wide world! Really and truly. I am not exaggerating at all.

She was bundled up with a snow suit. She had a round face with dark brown hair and all she did was beam with joy!  Truth be told, there really are no words to describe her but I am trying. She was calling me and looking directly at me. I almost fainted because…..it was me!

She looked EXACTLY like I did as a child that age. And she wanted to talk to me. I honestly thought I was dreaming. I grabbed my friends arm. I took a deep breath and spoke to her. I was so overcome with emotion I can’t remember her name. But, I just gushed over her innocence, her beauty, her profound joy, and her purity. She couldn’t stop smiling and she was apparently so utterly delighted to be going into the Festival of Trees! I must repeat, she looked exactly like me when I was four years old! It was an incredible and indescribable experience. In this moment I realize she is my Christmas Angel.

Angel Aunty as a little girl

I got in my car and started crying. I was just so overcome by this experience. As I was driving away, again through the gardens and woodlands and surrounded by the feeling of the season, including angels, I got the message. I feel like the universe was saying to me DON’T EVER LOSE YOUR SENSE OF WONDER.  I almost did this past year. It’s been excruciatingly painful at times to live alone during a pandemic.

But, NO ONE CAN EVER TAKE AWAY THAT JOY DEEP INSIDE YOUR HEART. NOTHING SO REAL CAN EVER BE THRATENED! This is good news!

 So my message to my Facebook friends and longtime fans of my blog Ageless with Aunty… Keep that child inside alive. Go back somehow and find and feel that sense of wonder. Do whatever it takes. It’s miraculous and worth the effort.

And that child inside of you will get you through tough times. The lights on your tree will be brighter and your troubles a bit lighter. You may find you appreciate even the littlest things much more. And when you keep a heart of gratitude, God will give you even more to be grateful for.

 Merry Everything. And thank you TLC and Mara for being by my side….

 

 

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS LIES IN YOUR HEART!

 

It's that time of year...

HO HO HO…..

I L-O-V-E CHRISTMAS TIME!

We may be in a pandemic but one can still find ways to celebrate the season...

An average day in December is….Fuel up with the BEST CHRISTMAS COFFEE under the sun…HO HO Joe’s!

I put it in a paper cup from Starbucks (you know the really pretty festive ones) and I stroll outdoors to get some fresh Christmas time air.

Of course this year is a little different with the pandemic and we simply can’t be too careful. But, if you are creative you can find ways to still get out and a little about, from a distance with your mask.

I get in my car and blast every Christmas song known to man. And I collect Christmas songs so I have a pretty ginormous selection!  See if you can find “I’m gonna tell Santa Claus on you!” or Christmas in Boston.

Or how about Merry Christmas All.  And another hidden classic is…Reindeer Boogie! Then again, has anyone had the pleasure of listening to James Brown’s Christmas CD? It’s super festive and funky!

After I deck the halls, I usually deck myself with holiday earrings with reindeer or wreaths or my snowman pins…I am also known to wear a Christmas bell around my neck or on my finger! And of Couse my seasonal hats.

Keeping up a strolling tradition in Newburyport

And I simply saturate myself with holiday joy!!!! I am told it’s contagious. And I do love spreading joy…..

 

Run run Rudolph!

I had traditions with Ming and Aunty about selecting our tree. There is a farm in Wellesley Mass that is awesome and even though I get my tree there every year I don’t even know the name. I would always cry tears of joy when bringing it home and staring at it after it was all decorated. Ming even got teary eyed too.

Same sign every year...

 I might venture out to get one by myself this year. Once I set it up it brings me enormous comfort and joy! Don’t you just LOVE your Christmas tree?! Some of you may recall that Ming and I called ours Puffy Green!

Ming assisting with Puffy Green

And our Aunty loved Christmas trees so much she would always gaze adoringly at ours and you could see how much she appreciated the season and the truest meaning behind it all. She passed this love for Christmas down to her daughter, granddaughter, grandsons and myself. And now we see this affinity for the season in the great grandchildren and so on….I call it the magical Christmas legacy.  

Pure Magic

And my sweet mother has always been doing the same (her mother was Aunty’s sister)! We have Christmas in our blood. My mom tells me that her dad LOVED Christmas too! He and my late Uncle D would always sing through the season. I really wish I had a photograph of that!

Even my friends are festive!

 One very early memory was one Christmas eve I had to be no more than seven and I stood on Aunty and Uncle D’s stoop and we sang It came upon a midnight clear before heading next door the annual Christmas eve bash of another Aunt and Uncle’s home. Grand times for sure.

Christmas Prelude ~Sleigh ride w Aunty

Do you have any Christmas Traditions that you can share?

Will someone please pass the Gambino Prosecco

This year I can’t fulfill all of mine since they involve being extra cozy with friends and family…but, I have managed to make a few safe plans for the season.

With my precious Sisters at Christmas

And remember even when it gets tough at times (I can assure you I am not pinging off the walls with glee every moment) I just remember one of my favorite sayings;

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS LIES IN YOUR HEART!!!! It’s true. Just take a moment to recall the wonderful and precious Christmas’s past….the magic is in our hearts and our sacred memories. I also love making new memories each year!

I praise God that I have a healthy family to celebrate with (even if I can’t hug and kiss them this year). My entire family (extended as well) excels at making Christmas memories! I think most of us do.

 And of course for all of those Christians…we know the real reason for the season!  Can you give me one ginormous Alleluia!

 

WITH LOVE, PEACE, AND JOY…

RENEE AND HER CHRISTMAS ANGELS….