Ghosts of Christmas Past

Christmas — the best time of the year.

I’ve always loved Christmas but it became extra special to me when I became a mother.

Why?

Well for all the normal reasons that parents love Christmas but I received an extra special gift one Christmas — a precious baby boy.

For years I was told I’d never be a mother and then a miracle happened. My baby was due to be born in January but there were complications and he arrived on 18 December instead. Extra tiny and very sick, he spent days in ICU and I never got to hold him until he was 3 days old.

I was told he would be staying in ICU over Christmas and I’d be going home without my baby — not on your life!

He was a fighter and he strived once I got to hold him, feed him and smother him in love.

We both left the hospital on Christmas Eve and the next day, unexpectedly, I got to celebrate my first Christmas as a new mother, with a week old baby boy.

I went on a couple of years later to welcome a second precious baby boy to our little family. We became a family of three — as I am a single Mum — and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

So Christmas holds a special place in my heart.

That tiny 2.5 kilogram baby boy will turn 31 in two days. He is now 6 foot 2 inches and has taken life by the horns.

So, that may be my grandest Christmas memory, but since then I’ve been lucky enough to have many more.

Christmas — decorated tree, gift wrapped presents, flashing lights, roast turkey and music are all reminders of how lucky I have been.

Now, let me share with you some of my favourite songs that I like to play at this time of the year. Some of these songs I play because it reminds me of the spirit of Christmas, even if they are not Christmas songs; some I play because of the video attached to the song; and some I play for the memories of Christmas’ past.

Here’s one of my favourite songs that reminds me of the birth of my babies.

Home Free - Mom

This next song I play for the video. The cheekiness and fun incorporated by the naughty elf reminds me of the games I used to play with my boys at Christmas.

Little toddlers can’t help themselves when the gifts are wrapped beneath the Christmas tree. They want to shake them, feel them, push and pull them, all in an effort to guess what they are. So I used to wrap ordinary household items and place them under the tree and let my boys test them to their hearts content.

I used to hear little whispers, like, “Silly mummy, I know what all these presents are.”

But what they didn’t know was on Christmas Eve I’d swap those presents for the real presents, wrapped in the exact same Christmas paper, of course.

Their little faces showing surprise and confusion when they opened them on Christmas Day was priceless and it took everything I had not to giggle in delight.

So without further ado, here’s the video that reminds me of those precious memories.

Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis

This next song is included in my playlist because to me, this is what Christmas means. I’m not religious, so Christmas is all about kindness, acceptance and love.

And this is how I’ve raised my boys.

No judgement and everyone deserves a special loving Christmas.

Home Free - Everybody Walkin’ This Land

Christmas should be magical for kids and adults alike but I’m realistic enough to know that there are people out there less fortunate than our little family. So we tried to “shake up the happiness’, as this next video tells us we should.

We did this by decorating the outside of our house with Christmas lights in an endeavour to give joy to those in our neighbourhood.

Funnily enough, it was my Father who visited one Christmas, that got the boys and I into this tradition and we spent hours every year decorating the house and yard for many years to come.

Train - Shake Up Christmas

Some years I may have had empty pockets and my boys may have been dressed in worn out jeans, but that didn’t stop Christmas from being the magical time of the year it has always been for us.

We did roam our streets like we were royalty, as Home Free sings, and we are grateful for every run down car that wouldn’t always start, every generous friend that offered us support and every diamond dream.

Home Free - Diamond Dreams

Do You Hear What I Hear was always a favourite song with my boys. They loved the thought of being that little shepherd boy.

Whereby, I’ve always been a Whitney Houston fan and I believe she does this song perfect justice, what with that gorgeous voice of hers.

Whitney Houston - Do You Hear What I Hear

Another song that my boys would always choose to include on our playlist. Again I think they envisioned being that little drummer boy. Oh, the imagination of a child.

With an imagination like theirs, how can Christmas not be full of magic?

I’ve chosen this a-Cappella version by Pentatonix because they too have instilled magic into this tune and the words.

Pentatonix - Little Drummer Boy

As I’ve explained earlier in this piece, I’m not religious, but this next song causes chills to run up my spine.

The magic of Christmas mixed with the fusion of this song, makes me realise that I may not be religious, but there is a higher power in our universe that works in mysterious ways.

Home Free - How Great Thou Art

As my boys and I have grown older, we’ve started adding more modern songs to our playlist. Some of them more adult in nature.

Hence, the enjoyment and inclusion of this next beautiful rendition, reminding us of the magic of Christmas and the twinkling of lights that give us such joy.

Ed Sheeran & Elton John - Merry Christmas

And last but not least, I feel we all need a gentle reminder — or not so gentle sometimes — that we do tend to get wrapped up in our own little world at times.

This is not necessarily a bad thing overall as we are only human, and the love of family and friends gives us great joy and comfort.

But there are people in this world that are struggling in many, many different ways and we do need to take their pain into consideration.

Christmas time is a time of empathy, compassion and non-judgement.

I’ve included this last song to remind us of those unfortunate souls that need the world to offer a helping hand.

Bandaid 30 - Do They Know Its Christmas?

And there you have my Ghosts of Christmas Past.

Merry Christmas to all and I wish for you to have a taste of the blessings I have been lucky enough to experience in life.

I do hope you’ve enjoyed my Ghosts of Christmas Past and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank DJ Apex (Medium Writer) and Rock n’ Heavy (Medium Publication) for this great challenge.

Please click the link below my name to read more of my work. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read this today and for all your support.

If you enjoy this piece, you may enjoy this one too.

Please visit my website if you'd like more information on my newly published book, Battle Angel : The Ultimate She Warrior.

Originally published on Medium