Christmas Is Deep In Your Heart

This Christmas has been the most heartwarming Christmas that I've celebrated in a long time! Why is that so? Well erm... do you sense that I'm about to tell you?? LOL! :-)

I've celebrated Christmas for as long as I can remember... and every year, my family celebrates in more or less the same way... and usually, these are the elements that are present...

-- Christmas Mass
-- Christmas Meals
-- Christmas Gifts
-- Family Gatherings
-- Quality Time with Loved Ones

Sure, it all sounds terribly cosy and heartwarming, but human nature is a funny thing, no matter how lovely things may be, we tend to overlook them or take them for granted, especially if we know that we can expect the same things at the same time every year without fail. This year really stood out for me though, because I really felt Christmas in my heart more deeply this year than I had before in other years.

Christmas is usually a grand affair for my family. This year was not much different from most years, and then some.

We usually begin our celebrations with a sumptuous Christmas dinner at my aunt's place on 23 Dec (my Dad's eldest sister). This year was the same.

On 24 Dec, we attend Christmas Midnight Mass at Holy Family Church where the congregation usually gets dressed up in their formal best. This year was much the same, but what was different was that after Midnight Mass, my parents decided to invite a few church friends back to our place. My Mom had made some lovely stew and fried rice, so everyone had a late-night supper and listened to music in the living room, chatting away till 5.00am!

On 25 Dec, there's Christmas Day Lunch at another aunt's place (my Dad's younger sister). This year was much the same, except that we were all so exhausted from the post-Midnight Mass enjoyments that lunch turned into high tea instead... LOL! And afterwards, we had fun working off our Christmas meal with a bit of Wii sports... like Wii baseball... and Wii bowling... WIIIIIIII!!! Amazing how Wii could be brought closer together this way... haha! ;-p

And finally, there's the usual Christmas Day Dinner at my uncle's place (my Mom's youngest brother), complete with alcohol (my uncle used to own a pub) and a jam session that extends right into the wee hours of Boxing Day (I have musically talented people on both sides of my family, as you can probably tell). The musical instrument of choice? The guitar.

Usually, it will be a bunch of us sitting out in the backyard, drinks set down on the table, 2 or 3 guitars playing at one go, and the rest of us just singing along. Good stuff. This year, we left at 2.30am, and the jam session was still in full swing. The guys have quite a wide repertoire, no one sings or plays out of tune, and we do melodies and harmonies, ad libs too... there are pretty high musical standards in my family... but for this jam session, we just kinda go with the flow, figuring out chords as we go along.

One thing in particular stands out in my mind and in my heart this Christmas, and that is getting the chance to meet with an old friend who I haven't seen in more than 15 years!

Rewind to 23 Dec, after the sumptuous Christmas dinner at my aunt's place... I reach home and get online to login to AnD, when I check my handphone, and someone texted me, "Rawr"

I only know one guy who would text me that, and it was him alright... my old skater pal, let's call him J.

Well, I haven't seen J in more than 15 years, and recently, we had found each other again thru' online means and had been chatting online quite a bit. We had been meaning to meet up, but we just never really found the time.

Just a little background here...

Back in the day, J and I were really really tight. I used to be a skater girl (and by that I mean that I was into skateboarding) and J was a skater boy. So J and I used to spend a lot of time hanging out together in various skater haunts and skate parks, and we would skate from morning to night, so we were pretty hardcore back then. We clicked from the get-go. I used to call him bro and he used to call me sis, and he was fiercely protective over me, even though I'm a year older than him.

So I reply to his text message, and as it turns out, J is driving on the highway and already on his way over to my place! What a sweet surprise! Within minutes, he is telling me that he is sitting down at this gazebo-like shelter next to my apartment block, waiting for me.

The time is 12.30am when I meet him. He greets me with a hug and a smile on his face, and what a sweet face it is too. J used to model before, but he doesn't anymore. Still, J's looks pale in comparison to who he is on the inside. He is a truly amazing human being.

Anyways, we talked and talked non-stop for 2 hours! J had to work the next day, and yet he still took time out of his busy schedule to do a surprise meet-up with me, and stayed up talking with me till 2.30am... he even brought drinks for us... he's still the same, he thinks of everything I need, even before I need it.

I know I'm going on and on here about him, but this year, he was the highlight of my Christmas celebrations... and getting to spend time with someone close to me who I haven't seen in more than 15 years... now, that's a real treat!

And what's really amazing is all the stuff he remembers about us hanging out together before, stuff that even I don't remember anymore... LOL! :-p  But he says he remembers, because they were good memories, and his good memories are all "in here" (and he points to his heart).

Tonight, as I was coming home after the jam session at my uncle's place, I was walking pass the same gazebo-like shelter where J and I had been sitting 2 nights ago, and it brought back fond thoughts and warm feelings of good times spent with an old friend. I closed my eyes for a second, just to soak it all in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOX2kSXOoY

(A Christmas Love Song by Johnny Mathis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA8UHeoYHQM

(All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GCj_UdqL8

(Christmas Is A Feeling In Your Heart by Johnny Mathis)


Christmas is deep in your hearts, folks... if you can feel it, you'll know it's there.

For me, this Christmas will forever be etched deeply "in here".

<3 Happy Christmas Everyone! <3