My Merry Mentor - Journal Your Christmas 2012

I did not have to look far to find my mentor.  She is hands down the fullest of Christmas cheer.  She rejoices in decorating each room of her house...starting the day after Thanksgiving.  She lovingly places all 96 nativity sets in their specific place (she probably as more sets now...but that was the last count)...changes out linens...and finally places the tree under the Christmas Sombrero that acts as a place holder for her amazing tree throughout the non holiday days.  
I come from a family that loves Christmas and had the obligatory lights around the roof...tree decorated and in the window.  We had other decorations around the house, but it was still our house dressed up for the holidays.  It was great and considering the fact that my mom had to do it all on her own without much help once my brother and I hit our teens...it was perfect.  It just was not the same as Christmas at my aunt's house.  Every room was completely transformed into a winter wonderland.  Beds had new coverings...sometimes new curtains too.  Bathrooms had new towel sets and new pictures decked out in holiday frames.  I mean everywhere I turned the holiday was displayed.  It isn't just her house it is her entire person.  She carries Christmas cheer in her pockets and doles it out whenever needed.  She knows I love the holidays and I love to have my house decked out...I mean I have 4 different Christmas trees.  Since I was diagnosed with cancer and have been having chemo on a very regular basis...I am wiped out most of the time.  Last year she went to storage...dug out some of my Christmas boxes...brought them to my house and decorated my living room for me.  It was a half speed Christmas for me, but I appreciated that she did that for me.  Just seeing my decorations loving placed around the main living area lifted my spirits on the regular.  I need my spirits lifted more often than I would like to admit, and the sight of my "Charlie Brown Village...complete with tree" just does something special for me.
She is also the person I go to if I want permission to spend money on more holiday cheer.  One year I went to the "cattle barns"...a local flea market type place....and I found a 6 foot tinsel tree complete with light.  The man wanted $100, and at the time I just could not see spending that money.  It was an amazing tree...absolutely beautiful.  I went to visit my aunt later that day and we talked about the tree.  In a matter of minutes she had me convinced that the tree had to be mine.  We drove over the next morning...I offered the man $75 and left with the tree.  It was amazing...and every year when I take each branch out of the box and put it in place I am reminded of my Holiday mentor.  To banish bad cheer or the bah-humbug spirit that may take up residence in my cluttered subconscious...I remember my Maa...and I might even sing a verse or two of "Must be Santa."  For now that is all I need...my growing collection of holiday goodness..."Must be Santa"...a house nearby that is dripping with holiday cheer in every nook and cranny...and my Maa.  Thank you Maa for being all I need to make my spirit bright!

to the moon and back,
Sarah

I dare you to be in a foul holiday mood
while looking at this face!