Christmas Day

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

On my walk this morning, I came upon a boy, maybe six or seven years old, standing on the sidewalk. He was dressed in his pajamas and balanced one foot gingerly on a skateboard. As he rocked back and forth on the board, I could tell he was gathering up his courage to launch both feet on his gift from Santa.

I passed by the fledging skate boarder.

Most adults whom I passed wished me Merry Christmas. And I did the same in return.

When I returned home, we gathered around the Christmas tree and exchanged presents. We always open stuffed stockings hung to the mantle before wrapped presents from Santa under the tree. There was a time when our kids would squeal with delight to the sound of unwrapping wrapping paper. This Christmas, my adult kids professed mature pleasure with bounty under the tree. I miss the squeals of youth on Christmas morn.

For the first time, one of our kids was not home for Christmas. Our oldest was recovering from a night out at one of the world’s top bars (#62) in Nairobi, Kenya. He reached out to us after midnight in Nairobi to share the joy of the day. My wife tells me one day it will just be the two of us on Christmas Day. I don’t believe her/smile.

For the first time, our younger son prepared Christmas dinner for the family. My son loves to cook. He didn’t inherit those skills from me or Mom. Nonetheless, he is a born creator of culinary cuisine. Santa took due note and left two “door stop” cookbooks for our family cook under the Christmas tree.

As we waited for dinner at my son’s place, we all watched a Taylor Swift concert. My younger son and daughter love, love, love Taylor Swift. They both knew all of the lyrics to all of the songs and would belt out the words in harmony with one another. Taylor brought the two together as teenagers. My daughter even said Taylor taught my daughter about life. She holds Taylor in the same reverence that I hold Howard University President Mordecai Johnson or entrepreneur Reginald Lewis.

As we left my son’s place, Taylor Swift could be heard in the San Diego night.

Conclusion: These are the moments of a life, my life.