That Time Of The Year Again

Merry Christmas to you
Haven’t seen for for a while
How are you these days
You know sometimes I miss your smile

Merry Christmas to you
Do you remember same time last year
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Merry Christmas To You by Shelley Leong in Storyteller

I’m starting on a Shelley Leong, Jewel and Alanis Morrisette (the lastest one) binge, trying to get music that’s in tune with my very reflective and mellow self at this time of the year. And so far I’ve been playing the Storyteller album to death in the CD player. It’s funny how sometimes the words of some songs are so much in line with my thoughts at the moment, expressing what I feel eloquently, with music :P I’ve been telling people I’ll stay in office on X’mas eve and wait for the 3 ghosts of X’mas. This year I have absolutely no ideas on what to do.

This time of the year, my memories will go far and far to the past, trying to remember what it was like every year. The thing is, I can’t remember every Christmas I’ve had. Maybe only a few but none vividly, just images and feelings. But I do remember being a happy child looking at all the pretty decorations in shopping malls and hotels. I remember how I always looked forward to TV programmes on X’mas Eve and X’mas. There was this Dunhill blockbuster thing that used to happen every year end and provided much entertainment for this lonely child. Lonely not because of lack of friends, but lonely because of that feeling of being different.

I remember the Santa Clauses and Santarinas distributing sweets to children. I remember being photographed with one. I remember wondering if Christmas can be truly magical and all good things would happen just because it was Christmas. I remember Christmas brunches and lunches and dinners in friends’ homes. I remember Christmas celebrations in school. I remember this huge party we had for children. I remember the friends. I remember the transient happiness. I remember the melancholy that sets in every year.

I savour this feeling because it shows that I’m still very much in touch, that I haven’t forgotten. Although I don’t celebrate Christmas (there are many events that I don’t celebrate :P), this time of the year still brings to me the message of hope, faith, renewal, kinship and love.

Do you remember your Christmases?