Whatever one wants to say about Christmas–good or bad–it’s a holiday that definitely packs staying power. Certainly in Canada.
A new Angus Reid Global pole suggests that having Christmas dinner and getting together with family and friends is something that will unite eight in ten Canadians. (The poll found similar figures in the U.S. and the U.K.)
Those are pretty high figures given the fact that only 51 per cent of Canadians polled found the religious aspect of Christmas meaningful. (That compares with 72 per cent in the U.S. and 39 per cent in the U.K.)
Reports of the demise of Christmas, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated.
It should come as no surprise. Christmas has everything going for it. Bright, twinkling lights everywhere, love lofting though the air, presents and meals shared–a mid-winter respite that seems to bring out the best in us.
Most of all, Christmas, I would wager, is about moments–so many of them magical; virtually all of them heightened and intense.
Remember the first time you saw a tree INSIDE your house? Remember that last day of school before Christmas Vacation? What about that beautiful girl in her new Christmas dress at church? Or the first time you heard Elvis sing “Blue Christmas”? Most people could go on forever.
What about the time you first heard Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” or Clement Clarke Moore’s “Twas The Night Before Christmas”?
Moments of gratitude and delight. Experiences that–thankfully–can be repeated and savoured–thanks in this particular case to one of Canada’s foremost actors, David Calderisi.
Terry Haig asked Mr. Calderisi to join us on this Christmas Eve to share some memories and some poetry. He graciously accepted.
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