A Christmas Carol

It seems that Christmas is coming together quite nicely in the Rickey-Dillinger homestead. Mom has been what I would call a "giant of organization" this year. She has been in a real nesting mode, and got our new abode whipped into shape and really organized and tidy. Its a funny thing that when you start to organize, things you didn't even remember you had start to reappear! That's how it was with Christmas decorations this year, or should I say, Christmas keepsakes. To me, Christmas decorations constitute ornaments, tinsel, electric lights with at least one bulb burnt out, but aren't necessarily "keepsakes". Over the years, mom has collected beautiful Christmas coffee table books, and this year, those books "reappeared"! One was printed in England, and another one is a crazy book called "A Story A Day Till Christmas" which mom bought at a stationary store in Newport when my sister and I were growing up. It is supposed to be an advent book of sorts, meant to be a sweet and meaningful tradition passed down from a mother to her daughters. My mom, being the wild, crazy, and hysterical woman that she is, hammed up every story and made fun of every story and had my sister and I in stitches every night. In our family, laughing together is the best of times.

One book called to me this year. We have a version of "A Christmas Carol" that was printed in Italy. It has the most beautiful illustrations . Now, I've seen almost every version of "A Christmas Carol" you could possibly imagine...from George C. Scott to the Muppets, but I have never actually read the book all the way through, so that has been my Christmas goal: to read the book start to finish. Its not a very big book, so its an easy read to fit into the quiet moments between the holiday hustle and bustle.

To say that the book is a more intricate telling of the Ebenezer Scrooge story doesn't do it justice. The amazing details, the emotion, the beauty, and the profound lessons taught in those pages are incredible. No movie version (although there are many splendid movie versions) could ever paint the pictures that Charles Dickens was able to paint with words. What an incredible mind he had. Opening the book is like taking a trip through his mind, and it was a brilliant mind. There are certain people who blaze ahead of their times and burn too brightly to be truly appreciated in their time, and to me, he is one of those. Not a perfect man by any means, but an extraordinary one, who gave us many gifts and life lessons through his writing.

If you find quiet time this holiday season to make a cup of tea and calm your mind, I would encourage you to read "A Christmas Carol" in its original form. Though there are certain phrases here and there that probably only make sense to a Victorian Englishman or woman, the spirit of the book will inspire you.

Happy reading....and Merry Christmas.