Today I am late. I had a dentist appointment and stopped at my doctor’s. The dentist just checked my teeth and decided I needed an anti-biotic. At the doctor’s, I needed a medication processed. I’ve decided if I ever fall again, I’d like to break my arm instead.

It is cold, down to the high 20’s. I blasted the car heater and wished I was home.

When I was a kid, the mailman, at Christmas time, came twice a day. Each time, our mailbox was filled with Christmas cards. We took turns opening them. All of our relatives and all of the neighbors sent cards. My mother kept track of the senders in her card box. A few years of no cards from someone had them bumped off my mother’s list. We used to hang the cards on string around the living room. A few went on the Christmas tree to cover the bare spots in the middle. My Aunt Barbara always sent individual cards to each of us. I loved getting her card. It made me feel special.

My town always decorated the square for christmas. Just down from square, the fire station was totally outlined in lights. A Santa sat on the roof. It was spectacular. Hung over the Main Street from streetlight to streetlight were strands of fir with lights and glittering stars. I remember one year, in the middle of each strand, hung a bell. The lights on the strands turned on when it got dark. All the stores were open, their windows bright. They were decorated for the holiday, nothing spectacular but still festive and worth a stop and maybe an ooh and an ahh.

The square was the center of town back then. All the stores were there. At Christmas time, the sidewalks were filled with shoppers. Every night kids stood on a stage across from the Children’s Corner and sang Christmas carols. The schools took turns. I was there singing for all I was worth when it was my school’s turn. I always hoped someone who knew me would notice.