The word Christmas sends streams of memories into our brains and our hearts. During this season we have traditions to dust off and put into motion. Holiday baking is steeped in tradition, whether it’s Great Grandma’s sweet potato pie or cookies cut out with cutters passed down through the years. These memories are why December is so bittersweet for us. While we celebrate yet another season, we can’t forget the people no longer here. Yet we’re grateful for the ones still around, and the new people entering the Christmas scene. It’s a time for gratitude.
One of our family traditions is watching Christmas movies. When the kids were young, we’d watch one every night of December. John and I continue that tradition, and it’s one of my favorites. We have our must watch films — “Elf”, “Home Alone”, “The Santa Clause”, “A Christmas Story”, the sequel made almost thirty years later “A Christmas Story Christmas”, “Scrooged”, “Die Hard” (it’s a Christmas movie at our house), and “Love Actually”. These are essential to our watch list.
If we have time (and we always do), we mix in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, and “Gremlins” (also a Christmas movie at our house.) You may hate me on this, but I boycott “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Don’t try to sway me, I’ve heard all the arguments. And I don’t care. You can’t convince me it’s a happy movie, so don’t even bother.
But I’ve saved the best for last—memory that is. Is it the best Christmas movie? That’s a hard call. My mother’s favorite movie was “White Christmas”, with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. I used to watch it with her, but I wasn’t impressed. As the years passed, I grew to tolerate it. I even stopped making my grocery list in my head while watching it.
The first Christmas without her, I stumbled upon it while channel surfing. It was the scene on the train, when everyone sings about snow. “Snow, it won’t be long before we’ll all be there with snow. Snow, I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow.” Once I asked my mother why she loved this movie so much. She replied, “Wouldn’t it be fun to have a Christmas like that, just one time? You know, ride a train to Vermont and watch the snow falling, then curl up by a roaring fire and drink hot chocolate. It all seems, well, perfect.”
Cue the waterworks. In a few seconds, that barely tolerable movie brought forth an avalanche of memories. I cried throughout the rest of the movie, and it’s been on our must watch film list since. And I always shed more than a few tears.
That moment also changed my perspective. Now, when I watch each movie, I think back to the past. I remember the delight in everyone’s eyes, the laughter echoing off the walls, the snacks we consumed while glued to the television. Yes, I still watch some of the new holiday movies that come out this time of year. But they’ll never hold a candle to the classics, the ones that hold so many memories.
Jann Goar Franklin graduated Russellville High School in 1985 and lives in Grand Cane, Louisiana. She also writes books, which are for sale at www.jannfranklin.com. You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com