Christmas wish

My Christmas Wish

Over the years I've written many Christmas messages, some in tragic times, others in good times. This year I find myself so grateful for so many things, yet there is a pall that hangs over our heads in the form of the War on Terror. I have lived long enough that I remember WWII, the rationing and the heartbreak of having my oldest brother Walter serving in the Silent Service, (Subs) in the Pacific Theatre. I can still see my next brother Rolland leaving for Korea in the 50's and the toll it took on my family. My family was the perfect American family, 3 sons all spaced the right amount of years to keep the military stocked with Lindberg's. During all these times even though we may have been separated by oceans my family stayed close and celebrated as if we were still together. We all could picture my Dad working on the Christmas tree, never satisfied, drilling holes and moving branches to make it the prettiest tree ever. My Mother baking her goodies and decorating for weeks. I can close my eyes today and still smell the cookies and pumpkin bread that filled the house during those times. Don't get me wrong, this was not a wealthy family, Mom and Dad both worked and struggled to make ends meet. It didn't take a lot of money to make a great Christmas back then. We got just as much or more satisfaction out of something homemade as a store bought gift. We, as I have said, were not wealthy but we were rich in so many ways. All through the holidays our house was like a fairy tale, Christmas music was playing, family and friends stopping in to savor mom's goodies and dad's homemade eggnog and countless hours of old stories and adventures of day's past. Getting the chance to play with cousins that we seldom got to see.

As I write these memories I am still able to see what Christmas was all about, sadly it has become so commercialized that kids today will never have those memories. Oh they will remember the gifts of some but not who gave them to them. They will play with them until they break or they tire of them and look for the next one. Will they remember taking part in the Sunday School Christmas pageant? Will they cherish their Christmas memories or will they simply just be another day in their lives? Yes we can blame all types of things and conditions for the change that has come over America & Christmas but none are really at fault. We have faced terror before when we knew people were actually trying to kill our loved ones, we have been broke before yet we knew the days would improve. The real culprit for the change in my mind is how we have learned to ignore God and the spiritual side of these holidays. So many of my memories of Christmas past involve the love and respect shown by all. My Christmas wish would be that we could reverse time for just one day to show the world, especially the children, what the true meaning of Christmas is.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.
-Don Lindberg & family