I suppose everyone has a favorite Christmas memory. The year they got the bike they had so wanted. Or maybe a Chatty Cathy doll when those were popular.
My favorite Christmas was the year my daughter Carolyn was born.
My husband and I moved to Anchorage, Alaska when we were first married. He was a civilian engineer assigned to help the Air Force keep their missiles operating. For me, a native Californian who had rarely seen snow much less lived in a snowy climate, it was all quite exciting. And truly beautiful.
I was pregnant as our second Christmas approached. (Which, by the way, gave me an excuse not to tramp through the woods through a foot of snow to cut down our own tree and freeze my feet in the process as I had the previous Christmas.)
As I walked through town doing my Christmas shopping, I admired the decorations draped from lamp poles and the store windows painted with holiday themes. Like most first-time moms-to-be, I wanted to shout to everyone that I would soon have a baby! And thank them for decorating the whole town in honor of her upcoming arrival.
On the evening of December 23rd, my water broke. Off to the hospital we went, which was no easy trick. We’d had a Chinook, a warm spell that melted the snow during the day and turned it to ice at night. Newly-built Providence hospital was at the end of a long, dirt road, not uncommon in Anchorage at the time, and was glazed over with ice. Driving no more than 5-miles an hour, my husband managed to keep us on the road instead of in the ditch. I was so grateful we, and the baby, were in no hurry.
Baby Carolyn definitely wasn’t in a hurry. She didn’t make her grand entrance until the afternoon of December 24th. It is not possible to describe the surge of love I felt the moment I saw her. Wow! I was a mother. A scary and wonderful feeling.
And the best Christmas present ever!
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
Wishing you a lovely Christmas and many happy memories.
Books that leave you smiling......by Charlotte Carter
Big Sky Family, Love Inspired, available now
Montana Love Letter, Love Inspired, 10/2012
www.CharlotteCarter.com
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