I doubt I’ll ever forget a moment that happened on Christmas Eve nearly 25 years ago. The temperature outside was 20° below zero. I can’t remember if that was the wind chill or the actual temperature, but seriously, does it really matter? It was just a comment, really, nothing worthy of noting, but sometimes a funny comment just refuses to leave your mind. It was close to 10:00 p.m. as our choir gathered in the church basement to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. We were all standing around putting on our choir robes (which are truly the ONLY one size fits all garment) when Ken walked in to join us. His wife, Char, who also sang in the choir, seemed to be missing. When asked where she was Ken quipped, “Char doesn’t do Christmas when it’s 20 below.” It just cracked me up, I don’t know why.
As I was out Christmas shopping today in temperatures hovering around zero, I couldn’t help but think of Ken and Char. Ken died two years ago, but I do wonder if Char is “doing Christmas” this year. I might just give her a call.
As for the shopping, I don’t remember when the last time was that I went shopping this close to Christmas. I walked into Kohl’s and figured, by the number of people standing in line, that they were surely giving something away for free today! It’s hard to believe the economy is poor when you see all those people spending money! There was only a shortage of one thing that I could see, and that was crabby people. People were polite and patient as they made their way through long lines to pick up their last minute gifts. Maybe faces really do freeze in this weather, but at least they were frozen in the happy position. It was indeed, a Christmas miracle!