When I was growing up it didn’t matter the holiday, the house was always decorated to the brim. Halloween had bats hanging from the ceiling and a crashed witch in our doorway. Easter had our couch invaded by the bunny brigade, and Saint Patrick’s Day there wasn’t an inch of the house that wasn’t green.
But Christmas, that was the holiday that took the cake.
Have you ever walked into a Christmas town where everything is decorated from head-to-toe, or possibly into one of those home décor stores during the winter season? Everything smells of candy canes, cinnamon, apples, and baked goods. There is fake snow and small village displays with Santa dolls with mini elves working away on toys.
All right, if you have then you can imagine my parent’s house at Christmas.
My mother loved Christmas and it showed in the way she decorated the house. The tree was trimmed with tinsel, glass bulbs, and lights. She had a Christmas quilt she won when I was a little girl that she would drape over the living room couch. The picture table turned into our Christmas village, and there was always something baking. I think she went out of her way to give me the most magical Christmases because she never had them when she was growing up.
Each year our house looked like part of the North Pole with all the red, white, and green. My contribution was the card archway between the entrance hallway and the living room where we taped all the cards we would get. My dad would make a mixture of oatmeal and sparkles to sprinkle in the backyard to attract the reindeer because ‘everyone knows Santa’s reindeers love oats’. He’d also help pick out the cookies for Santa with me, and we’d leave them in the sunroom on the arm of my dad’s favorite chair.
After setting up for Santa’s visit and finishing up the last batch of Christmas cookies my mom would take me to my room. She would tuck me into bed and we would read two or three Christmas books before she would kiss me goodnight, making sure to set up my stocking at the foot of my bed. I still think of Christmas morning when I smell citrus because there would always be an orange stuffed into the top of my stocking to greet me.
This year, though, will be different.
My dad has moved into a new house and he is like me; less is more. We are still going to have a Christmas but it won’t be decorated like Santa’s workshop. We will have a tree but it won’t need a warning sign for anyone with epilepsy. We’ll have stockings but this year they will be hanging from a mantel. This will be a minimal Christmas with a focus on family and loved ones. We will laugh and cry remembering the Christmas’s passed. We will eat to the point of exploding and napping on the living room floor with the dog. A minimal Christmas will be perfect for this year and maybe the next couple years but I know when I have kids the Christmas Cluster will return.
Deanna is known for two things – her passion for writing and her friendly smile. Although she can be quirky walking around wearing her cat hat she bought at a Fan Expo back in 2010, or singing Andrew Sister songs while walking down the street – most of the time you’ll experience her optimism and mature worldview through her posts she shares on her platforms.
In December 2015, Deanna published her first book of the Prophecy Six Series; a young adult fantasy that follows a girl named Liora on her journey to discover how she fits into a 200-year-old prophecy. Child of the Light is the first of six books and book two – Children of Sirphan– is to be released December 20th, 2016. If you wish to learn more about Deanna or her work check out the links below:
Prophecy Six Blog
Prophecy Six Series Official Site
Author & Business Site
Melanie Noell Bernard 