By Bonnie Brown
Columnist

I’m beginning to get into the Christmas spirit and it’s always a good feeling to see the happy children who are wildly excited with anticipation of Santa’s arrival.  The wait seems interminable as the holiday excitement starts in early November.   

I must admit that my holiday spirit was awakened with the 2023 Wayfair Santa Claus commercial on TV.  Yes, I know, most of you don’t watch the commercials. 

My husband is one of them.  He seems to blank out when they come on or has something snarky to say about a couple of them that he really doesn’t like.  Me, on the other hand, find it fascinating that not only do we see ads for home renovations, soft drinks, beer, but there’s so many others out there now.  Think Progressive, State Farm, Taco Bell, etc.  

And now I find it most interesting and a bit unsettling that there are so many ads about our bodily functions.  Truly unsettling and so unexpected.  What would our grandparents think of these ads?  

But, back to the Santa Claus commercial about Wayfair.  It is fun to watch Santa as he walks about the house sharing with you that he’s in everybody’s homes and his favorite is a “Wayfair home.”  Then he is shown acknowledging that in this particular home they redid the guest room.  He is so caught up in exploring and admiring the home that he almost forgets to leave the gifts!  

Thinking back to the time many decades ago that I truly believed in Santa only to quiz my mother incessantly as Christmas approached whether Santa was “real” when she asked me (out of exasperation) “Do you believe in magic?”  I responded that I did.  She then asked, “Do you believe in love?”  Of course, I did, because my family loved me.  

So, I responded, “Yes!”  She then said that Santa was love and magic and if I believed in those things that I could still believe in Santa Claus.  And I have ever since.  

In recent years, we have spent Christmas Eve at our younger son Jeff’s house.  He and wife Francie are parents to the younger Brown grandchildren.  And they really go all out for Christmas.  

It is made even more special when older son Dennis and his family can join us at Jeff’s, along with Francie’s mother and siblings.  The home is beautifully decorated, the food is fantastic, and the excitement and anticipation are palpable.  

Love is in the air, and we are all excited for Santa’s anticipated visit.  

Papa (Tom) reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the poem by Clement Clarke Moore in which a child describes the visit of St. Nicholas to his family’s home.  It’s a beautiful moment to see our family mesmerized by this favorite tradition.  

After the children are hustled off to bed and Jeff and Francie begin the process of filling the room with what appears to be a bounty of well-chosen, highly desirable gifts, I know in my heart that it will be a fun morning when we all gather to see the excitement.  

I am also certain that although Jeff and Francie supplied the gifts, that I absolutely expect Santa to pass by to sprinkle his love and magic over us all.