This is a cherished book by Graham Base. A story of Horace. a boy who plans a special celebration for his 11th birthday. What begins simply enough turns into page after page of secrets and mysterious clues one must discover to solve the puzzle of…

Who done it ?

My youngest son and I spent weeks and months mapping out our strategy to solving the puzzle. Then to make a guess. At the end of the book is an envelope with the solution.

The AH HA moment. 

Before the internet and phones and social media and video games…

A Long long lost time ago…reading books together with young ones was the perfect way to discover new faces and places, and to simply cuddle together on the road to growing up.

Out of the mouths of babes come rapid fire AI, apps, Smart phone lingo, and tech phrase reminders aimed at fumbled fingers, me, with an emphasis on Emojis are no longer cool. 

So I shut it all down with my favorite, old as the hills retort…

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE

What I mean to say, as I am older than I ever expected to be, memories are my blessings in disguise. Just like the young Horace, I can remember in exquisite detail Christmases past. It is true that recent memories are more of a struggle, where was I going, what’s that fellows last name, and the really scary one, am I wearing pants?

I may need two pairs of glasses to read the fine print, but I can see in my mind’s eye, each and every Christmas Eve since our boys were born. The nervous chatter. The plate of cookies and milk laid out by the fireplace. Footie pajamas and last minute wishes whispered before eyes close and the coming of sleep.

The Eleventh Hour…the clock ticking before all secrets are revealed in piles of torn ribbon and wadded up Christmas wrapping paper.

The Eleventh Hour…when I open the secret envelope to find the best Christmas present of all. There is no fool like an old fool. For inside the envelope is a present I never imagined. 

Grandchildren. 

They are my special blessings as I travel through time, 

through the pages of my life, as once again what was old can be new again. 

Through the eyes of a child, 

Christmas Eve is now a living memory once again.

My Christmas prayer for you all is simply this.

Growing older is a blessing, not a curse. 

Celebrate all your extra minutes one at a time.  

Follow the Christmas Child, 

make Christmas Eve, what it has always been…

The Gift Of Innocence and Wonder