CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

I suspect that my habit of starting Christmas early stems from my childhood. For most of my school days I sang in a choir, at church until I was eleven and afterwards in a school choir. As soon as we returned to school after the Autumn half term we began to practice the hymns and carols for The Christmas services, sometimes in the old school house but more often in the church itself. It was a typical small village school almost at the top of a hill, right at the top stood the church, small but beautiful and very old, the tower and nave were Norman and additions had been made over the next two or three hundred years.
We practised three afternoons a week in the choir stalls, the body of the church in darkness seemed full of mystery and I wondered if the ghosts of past choristers ever listened to us as we sang. I loved the calm atmosphere and the sense of peace and I still love the sense of history in these places, I feel I can almost touch the past. There is an echo of all those who over the years brought in to the place their sorrows and their joys. I was a sanctuary in time of war , plague and flood, indeed it was still considered a refuge in times of flood as the village hall was below the high water mark and winter floods were a regular occueance during the spring thaw.

I still remember every word of those carol and later when I was co-opted into the (Big School choir the knowledge stood me in good stead. I was not given a choice, joining the choir was mandatory if a child had a good voice. The choir master, a very old, very accomplished musucian who in his time had taught at a famous public school checked every childs school record before they even started their life at the new school. If you could sing that was that, I, with about a dozen others was told to report to his study on the first day of term .,an audition of sorts followed and I became a member of the choir even before I met my new form teacher. The choirmaster was strict, and worked us very hard indeed yet every one of us loved the old boy, we wanted to please him and more often than not we did. I was in my second year when he died, quite suddenly,we were heartbroken. Thanks to him we had won many contests and were considered one of the best school choirs. We sang for him once more at his funereal, not a requiem but a rousing Te Diem, it was what he wanted. I left the choir soon after, the new choirmaster was a poor substitute for our “old bear,, but even now, over forty years later I think of him every year when Christmas carols are played and the memories are all happy ones.

The other reason for my extended celebrations is more mundane. My mother . Bless her was a bit of a puritan at heart and every year at about the end of September she would refuse to buy us any sweets or treats of any sort. The idea was that we should enjoy Christmas much more if we had not been indulged beforehand. Oh how my brothers and I hated it. Of course she would save up the money to buy us each a selection box and also stock up a play sweet shop with goodies for us to share on the day. I must say that we always felt that it was a bit much to be starved of sweets for months on end and then be given lots of chocs and told not to eat too many of we should be sick. The ways of parents are strange indeed.

When my son was small we began our celebrations on the first of December, there were treats, games and special meals and for him a small gift each day to allay the Chrismasitis that all children feel at such a time. We had so much fun and there was non of the stress of doing and eating and having everything on one day. We were very happy with our odd ways and we still are.
We are not Christians but of course there has been a great festival at this time of year long before most modern religions were invented. As long as we do celebrate and as long as we give happiness where we can to our fellow men, does it matter who or what our Gods are. Surely that should be the real joy of the festive season, it is for me.