Winnie's Way: Merry Christmas

"MERRY CHRISTMAS! "What a warm cheery greeting that is to give and to share with everyone. It conjures up happy memories of warmth, love and happy times shared with friends and families from years past.

Memory calls up the eager anticipation of children -- from our own childhoods, from our children's, grandchildren, and the children of friends, and of schoolmates.

There was always an air of happy excitement. There were shared dreams. There were shared school and church activities, the glorious shop windows -- and wishful thinking.

We heard Christmas carols and songs on the radio, television, at school and church. We joined them and sang together the old favorites -- "Joy to the World," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," the always loved, "Silent Night," and all the old familiar carols we learned and sang each year from the time we were toddlers.

We added happy secular songs like Burl Ives' "Have a Jolly Christmas," Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and many others. There were fun songs like "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman," too many to list, but all filled with the sound of happiness and joy.

There are some new songs, but I am disappointed with most of them. Too many sound more like a dirge than songs of praise and joy and happiness. Then there are "cute" ones like "Grandmother Got Run Over by a Reindeer" which are more pain than glee.

Last year I twisted my radio dial in vain to hear those wonderful happy songs and had to bring out tapes to hear them.

This year I'm enjoying the old carols and songs, and the joyful memories they bring on my radio.

Christmas cards from relatives and old friends add to the joy of Christmas, though it makes me sad to find my list shrinking one-by-one, each year.

New names may be added but there is nothing quite as joyful as the ones that have been in my address book for decades -- just to get their message, "All is well. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!" -- AND YOU, TOO!