It’s Chrisssss-mas! All Ooooo-ver! Again!

It’s easy for me to get a little ‘hum-buggie” this time of year, especially when the holiday seems to be force-fed down our throats by greedy consumerism that would LOVE to have us start Christmas shopping right after Halloween. (Don’t get me started!) But I do love Christmas music. And while it’s sometimes a little difficult to get into the spirit of the season here in sunny Florida, the traditional Christmas tunes help a lot. My favorite traditional Christmas song is “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” currently the Rascal Flatts a cappella version.

But I have another favorite Christmas song that brings back the most wonderful, happy memory for me, and, it turns out, my son Drew. When Andrew was a youngster in northern Michigan, he played ice hockey along with several of his neighborhood buddies. Weekends were often spent in the car driving to practices and games. On one of those weekends in December, I was driving him and two of his buddies, Nick and Joe, about an hour and a half east to the town of Alpena for a game. I had a cassette of Christmas music that I’d made up, and we were all enjoying the ride over in the snow, singing along to the songs we knew. But when Tom Petty started in with Christmas All Over Again, things really started hopping. This is a catchy tune, and the chorus is pretty easy to learn, so as it played, the boys got louder and louder, and in my mind I can see them, each with their windows open, their heads out and faces to the sky, singing the title of the song at the top of their voices! And when it was over, I’d have to rewind so we could play it – and sing it –  again.

What a wonderful memory! And now every year around this time, when the radio starts playing Christmas tunes, one of us will hear that song and remember. Sometimes I’ll call Drew and just play him the song, hoping it’s his first exposure of the season. He’s done the same to me. He’s taught his kids that song, and they love it as much as he does.

Is it a silly ‘tradition’ or just a happy memory? Who cares? It makes me smile and brings me ‘tidings of great joy!’ And it’s Chrisssss-mas! All Ooooo-ver! Again!