IT HAS TAKEN me more than 50 years to catch the Christmas spirit, engage, and joyfully release its energy. That's because as I was growing up, the family business worked exceptionally long and hard through the entire Christmas season, starting with Thanksgiving Week and ending with the Epiphany. I reckon I lost a lot of joy through that experience.
In 2018, something reset my view of Christmas. I think my personal mental adjustment happened partly because seven year old Dylan is visited every night by two elves and he recounts their clever adventures for us every morning. And some of the joy came back during the annual John Lewis advertisement, this time orchestrated with Elton John.
If you click on the video above, you should see and hear what rekindled my best Christmas memories. And click into my Flickr collection if you want to see a collection of 100 Christmas snaps I've shared across the years.
If you don't have the time to swipe through my Irish Christmas memories, just know that the Christmas Candle shown above is my most-viewed photograph of Christmas. More than 3800 people have viewed it when I referenced it on my 2018 blog post. Seeing it again reminds me that I need a personal DSLR more than ever--that would be an excellent Family Christmas Present, perhaps next year, when we get settled in a home we own.
[Bernie Goldbach has enjoyed Christmas since the middle of the 20th century.]
