Merry Memories

Well, now that we've gotten past Thanksgiving, I can rightfully enjoy the Christmas music. I was hearing "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Silver Bells" on the radio on VETERANS DAY!!! And it had the opposite effect of what it should. It didn't make me merry and bubbly and happy and gay. It made me mad. Too much, too early.

Now that a couple weeks have passed, I can enjoy it. I love Christmas music. Actually, I get really sad when they stop playing it at 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Day. Why do they have to stop so abruptly? Can't they extend it to New Year's? Some of the songs aren't really even "Christmas" related, like Winter Wonderland and Jingle Bells. They are about snowflakes and sleigh rides. We still have those AFTER Christmas. I wish they'd continue the peppy tunes until January. I'd rather ease out of it rather than being bombarded with it from the time we take off the Halloween costumes. Ok, enough of my holiday rant. Remember, I am happy and peppy and merry and all.

So, the point to this post was that music makes me happy. Christmas music makes me super happy. I love the vintage voices that I hear on the radio -- old time crooners like Bing Crosby and Burle Ives and Johnny Mathis. I could listen to them all day long, all year round. Sometimes the songs bring back great memories. A friend had this video posted on her Facebook wall today. It made me think of three things:

1) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The movie is a classic from the late director John Hughes. We watch it every year....although the part where this song plays gets skipped over when the kids are watching. Remember that part? :)

2) It reminds me of my former boss, Eric Kennedy. He spent every Christmas holiday basking in the sun in Hawaii with his wife. I always envied his winter getaways, but I think I really would miss being away from the wintry Chicago weather on Christmas. We used to play the tune in the office in the days leading up to his trip. It got us all into a peppy mood. And when he returned in January, refreshed and suntanned, he always kindly brought back macadamia nuts or Christmas ornaments or some other thoughtful souvenir.

3) It also makes me think of a family Christmas we spent at my sister and brother-in-law's in the early 90's, one of the last Christmases before his premature death at just age 42. Jerry was always singing and that was one of his favorite holiday tunes. So one year my niece, Kelly, and I fashioned grass skirts out of tissue paper and followed behind, attempting to do a hula dance as he did his best Bing Crosby. I really miss him, especially when we have our family get-togethers.

So, the song is bittersweet. Reminds me of good times, but also makes a little sad to think of people that aren't in my life anymore. But mostly, it brings back memories...merry ones.