CMC: Episode 4 -This is for the Dogs!

It’s Christmas Eve and as only a brother can do, mine gave me a strange gift. For my Calligraphy Meets Chopped (CMC) series my brother Ben put only three things into his bag. Click on the video (and please like it) to see his ‘gift’.

As children we waited all year for Santa Clause to arrive. It was the most exciting night, it was hard to sleep, and every sound was the glimmer of hope that Santa had arrived at our house. You hoped Santa got your letter, yet never really knew until you saw what was left under the Christmas tree. My brothers and I would have to wait at the top of the stairs until my Dad put up the camera lights (welcome to the 1970s) and once he was done we flew down to see all the glitter and festivities.

Christmas is amazing from a child’s perspective. I was having lunch with a friend today and ran into a little girl in the Ladies room. I asked her if she was ready for Christmas and she said (in a voice of a disgusted five year old), “Of course, you know there are only two more sleeps until Santa arrives?!” I then asked her if she had been good this year, and again she said, “Of Course” with so much confidence I would have elected her President of the United States! I had to chuckle, smiled and fondly remembered my days waiting with my brothers at the top of the stairs until those darn lights were in place!

No matter how you are celebrating Christmas this year, I hope you are able to channel your inner child and remember the feelings of wonder, joy and anticipation as the morning turned to magic. Not everyone has positive memories of this season, so let us give thanks for our own blessings and give from our coffers to those in need – spiritually, physically and emotionally. Let us enjoy an excited sleep, a gift or two, a hot meal and being surrounded by those we love. Whether there are lights or not, whether you climb up or down stairs, let us rejoice in the birth we celebrate and the time we have full of peace and joy.

Thanks Ben for making this “bag” a bundle of fun…it really was for the dogs!