Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way … I think you know the rest. How often do we hear it and now I am saying it? Where did summer go? Wasn´t it just last week when … Christmas has sneaked up on me faster than it has done in many years.
I heard someone saying the other day that they had gone to their daughter’s Christmas concert as she was performing with her class and they didn´t even know she could play the flute. I guess they were just too busy to notice. They only realized seeing her on stage, how grown up she had become.
That is one thing I like about the Christmas season, it makes me stop and think about important things in my life and important people in my life. I don´t know if it is the twinkle lights, the Christmas carols I play from December 1st or the familiar smell of Christmas cookies baking, that evoke strong memories and make me reflect upon the year. Whatever it is, Christmas is an ideal time for such reflection as there is tangible magic in the air.
This time of year, makes me feel nostalgic and I find myself wishing I could go back to Christmases past. But, I want the people who are special in my life now, to also be present. 
This year that is partially possible. My very special niece is visiting us for Christmas so I will re-live some of that old-fashioned feeling as she regales us with stories that I had forgotten and reminds me that it is family that is most important just by her presence.
Christmas truly is a special time –like no other in the year. There must be something in the energy field at this time of year, or that the stars are aligned differently because that longing in my heart is greatest all through Advent. This year I am going to slow down and enjoy it. I am going to take this time to enjoy my family around me. I am going to dream but I am also going to give thanks for the abundance I have and for the good fortune to have the family I have.
Merry Christmas