Christmas Morning
She feigns her sleep as she waits for the long anticipated moment. The clock
strikes twelve; the transition from Christmas Eve to Christmas morning has
finally arrived. One eyelid opens. She smiles. Her stomach turns from excitement
and she continues to wait patiently for daylight when her parents and brother,
two years her elder, will awaken; far too important is this day to rush.
Hours pass when she finally hears the sounds of her mother's jade bangle bracelets
clinking together as she shuffles in her bed. Moments later, the familiar
sound of her yawn is heard. As each second goes by, the little girl grows
more and more anxious. She slowly gets out of bed and tiptoes to her parents'
room only 3 yards away, meeting her brother at their door. They both peek
through the tiny keyhole to find that their parents were already getting out
of bed.
Into the living room she runs, her brother following closely behind. She comes
to a screeching halt upon entering the living room. Surrounded by lights,
the room is festively decorated. Lights hung from ceiling to floor, left to
right. A week in advance, her father had bought a fake Christmas tree at the
swap meet and her parents had spent all of the previous night putting it up
and decorating it with used ornaments. They only knew Christmas to be as they
had seen in holiday sale ads and tried their best to duplicate the ideal Christmas
for their two children.
Suddenly misty are her eyes as they light up delightfully. She sees the most
beautifully decorated Christmas tree, dismissing the gaps between the false
branches inserted into the wooden pole that is still very visible. Beneath
the branches rest boxes and boxes of gifts, all wrapped with paper of identical
designs, brought home by her father from work. Beneath the decorated paper,
she will later find many of her old toys, re-wrapped to create the illusion
of a full pile, and a single pack of markers-though it did not matter. Never
will this day be about the materialism of the gifts, but hereafter it will
never be any less than just that.
Much more than just excitement, anticipation, or appreciation was this first
Christmas experience. In her eyes, this was perfection. Often are our perceptions
affected by our mental preparation of an expectation. The inadequacies of
this day served no relevance to this girl's everlasting memory. At some time
or another, this simple satisfaction has applied to everyone, but as years
go by, satisfaction is more difficult to achieve with the expectations set
forth formerly. As this little girl grows, it will be the same for her, but
she will always have this Christmas morning.
