A Christmas Dream

Last night I had a perfect dream 

The doorbell rang on Christmas Eve

And there on the stoop

Were my mom and dad

I couldn’t believe it

They were just as I remembered from my childhood

Young and healthy, loving, fun

My mother full of laughter and high spirits

My dad with his shy grin and quirky jokes 

Then right behind them

My brothers Steven and Peter 

My brother-in-law George

All home to visit from far away

Overjoyed to be together after so many years 

Vicki and Katja came in

And Margie and Faith and Gayle

All of Vic’s and Doris’s grandkids with their families

The first time everyone was together at once 

My dad and I went across the road

And chopped down a handsome white pine

We hauled it back and took it to the auto body shop

Where Vic had it spray-painted white

Soon to be covered in home-made ornaments

The children frolicked in the foot-deep snow 

Making snowmen and snow angels 

Throwing snowballs at the Norway Pines 

Our Irish setters, Mike and Micki, racing about 

Our NOLA grandchildren, V and L, had never seen so much snow 

Steven made us all Manhattans and Old-Fashioneds

We munched on sardines and creamed herring 

And traded memories of Christmases past

Peter, of course, remembered more than anybody

Steven teased Vicki about her childhood

And she gave him a stiff punch in the arm 

Doris was busy cooking a turkey in the kitchen 

Katja made the stuffing

Margie, the sweet potatoes and green beans

And Doris, of course, her beloved Schaum Torte 

I played the Hammond Chord Organ

Everyone sang “Silent Night”

And “We Three Kings of Orient Are”

(My terrible singing voice actually sounded much better than usual) 

Soon my grandfather, aunts and uncles, and cousins arrived

Uncle Ralph brought perfume samples from the drugstore

Uncle Karl, elegant gifts for the ladies

Family friends too

The O’Haras, the St. Peters, the Worths, the Caleys

So warm, so thankful

We opened family gifts

Steven got a BB gun

Vicki, a baby rabbit 

Finally we all drifted off to sleep

Ready for Santa’s visit 

It was the best Christmas ever