‘Tis The Season … for recollecting, reflecting on, and recycling — with those we love —  treasured memories we carry in our hearts about the way ‘things’ were for us. I genuinely believe that as long as there remains one of us standing, we will continue to hold dear and delight in the Christmases of our childhood. Here’s me, passing it on, finding a way to pay it forward.

For someone like me, who grew up with minimal material possessions and for who ‘the smell of apples’ still brings memories of Christmas, the carols, quotes, and poems continue to be an integral part of ‘The Season.’

I’ve listed a few written words that speak to me.  They’re not my words. I hope you can find value in them because stories like these mean Christmas to me.

“The point is not to pay back
kindness but to pass it on.”
~Julia Alvarez

Merry Christmas, everyone…
Blessed be the season.
Pay it forward.
Feel the love!

… 

“Blessed is the season
which engages the whole world
in a conspiracy of love.” ~ HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

 

“Holly and Holiness
Come well together,
Christ-Child and Santa Claus
Share the white weather;
Plums in plum pudding and
Turkey with dressings,
Choirs singing Carols —
All have His Blessing.” ~ RALPH W. SEAGER

… 

“… Running to the window, he opened it and put his head out. No fog, no mist;
clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold piping for the blood to dance to; golden sunlight;
Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells.
Oh, glorious, glorious!
“What’s today?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
“Eh?” returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.
“What’s today, my fine fellow?” said Scrooge.
“Today!” replied the boy. “Why, Christmas Day.”
~ CHARLES DICKENS

 

“There are some of us… who think to ourselves,
“If I had only been there! How quick I would have
been to help the Baby.
I would have washed His linen.
How happy I would have been
to go with the shepherds to see the Lord
lying in the manger!”
Yes, we would.
We say that because we know
how great Christ is,
but if we had been there at that time,
we would have done no better than the
people of Bethlehem…
Why don’t we do it now?
We have Christ in our neighbor.” ~ MARTIN LUTHER

… 

“Could I know
That they were so important?
Just the two, no servants,
Just a workman sort of man,
Leading a donkey,
And his wife thereon
Drooping and pale — I saw them not myself,
My servants must have driven them away;
But had I seen them — how was I to know?
Were inns to welcome stragglers up and down
In all our towns from Beersheba to Dan,
Till He should come?
And how were men to know?” ~ AMOS RUSSEL WELLS

 

“Noteworthy
Trees just do not grow on the high plateaus of the Rockies.
Everybody knows that.
Trees need good soil and good weather and up here there’s no soil and terrible weather.
That’s why the tree is a kind of miracle.
The tree is a juniper, and it grows beside U.S. Route 50 utterly alone.
Nobody remembers who put the first Christmas ornament on it —
Some whimsical motorist of years ago. From that day to this, the tree has been
Redecorated each year.
Nobody knows who does it.
But each year,
By Christmas Day, the tree has become a Christmas Tree.”
~ CHARLES KURALT

…

“My flair for decorating comes out when
The tree is to be trimmed.
Moi,
I am a traditionalist.
I use candy canes, cookies, a string of corncobs
And a teensy photo of myself
For the top.
It seems appropriate that the star
at the top of my tree
Is moi.” ~ MISS PIGGY

 

“Miss Manners is extremely sorry to report that the two most frequently asked questions about
the charming custom of giving and receiving Christmas presents are:

1. Do I have to get them something?
2. How can I make people give me what I really want?

These questions shouldn’t even be thought, much less asked.”
~ JUDITH MARTIN

 

“Dear Children, now that you are older, I will tell you a secret.
No matter what anyone says, Santa Claus is not your parents.
He is the parent we wish we were,
Riding high and free above your head,
Pulled by enchanted reindeer and bringing you presents that could never be less than perfect.
I believe in Santa, oh, yes, I believe.” ~ JOAN GOULD

…

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and
devotion exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas!
How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus!
It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.
There would be no childlike faith then,
no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.
We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.
The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would
be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus!
You might as well not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men to watch
in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve
to catch Santa Claus,
but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down,
what would that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that
there is no Santa Claus.

The most real things in the world are those that
neither children nor men can see…
No Santa Claus!
Thank God he lives, and he lives forever.
A thousand years from now, Virginia,
nay ten times ten thousand years from now,
he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”
~ FRANCIS P. CHURCH 

 

” ‘Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring.
Not even a mouse.
For like everyone else
in that house which was old
The poor mouse was in bed
with a miserable cold.” ~ LUDWIG BEMELMANS

…

“As a kid, sometimes my Christmas present was an orange.
We were really poor and fruit was a once-a-year thing.
To this day that’s why
I love the smell of oranges.”
~ DOLLY PARTON

 

“Laura and Mary would never have looked in their stockings again.
The cups and the cakes and the candy were almost too much.
They were too happy to speak.
But Ma asked if they were sure the stockings were empty.
Then they put their arms down inside them, to make sure.
And in the very toe of each stocking was a shining bright, new penny!
They had never even thought of such a thing as having a penny.
Think of having a whole penny for your very own.
Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.
There had never been such a Christmas.” ~ LAURA INGALLS WILDER

 

“Monday, Dec. 27, 1943
Dear Kitty,
On Friday evening for the first time in my life
I received something for Christmas.
Koophius and the Kraler girls had prepared
a lovely surprise again.
Miep had made a lovely Christmas cake,
on which was written “Peace 1944.”
Ellie had provided a pound of sweet biscuits
of pre-war quality.
For Peter, Margot, and me a bottle of Yoghourt,
and a bottle of beer for each of the grownups.
Everything was so nicely done up, and there were pictures stuck
on the different parcels.
Otherwise, Christmas passed by quickly for us.
Yours, Anne.” ~ ANNE FRANK

MY HOPE IS THAT YOU ENJOYED THESE GEMS I CHOSE TO PAY IT FORWARD TODAY.
ENJOY THE REST OF THE BLESSED SEASON.
I Wish You Miracles.