Sometimes I just want to know "Where Are You Christmas?" I find this song so touching and so real for so many people I know who are struggling in some way during the holiday season. Some of us struggle emotionally, financially, and or physically and the holidays seem to make these struggles a little harder. This post is written in the middle of a very hard week. I'm getting sick (of course- it wouldn't be break without some sort of virus), the weather is horrible which makes my commute to school and home quite the challenge, the kids at school are nuts, and there is just so much to do before the week ends. It's hard to focus on the magic and fun of the season when my mood does not match. I'm having a hard time finding Christmas.

I often wish life was simpler when the only thing I had to worry about was whether Santa got my list, and if I could stay up late enough to hear the reindeer and sleigh bells on the roof and possibly catch an elusive glimpse! It's this time a year that I still so want to believe in the magic of Santa Claus! My list has changed from when I was little but the magic that this season evokes is still there but buried under the mountain of things to do. All I want to do is to escape and curl up with a few good books, some holiday movies, my snuggliest blanket, a plate of Christmas cookies, mug of hot cocoa (with marshmallows of course)and dream the time away.

One of my favorite quotations ever is " Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus." I need to be that little girl. The one who had the child-like innocence to believe in the magic that is Santa- that is Christmas. I want those feelings back. Especially now. I need to believe!

We have a sign above our front door that stays up all year that says"Forever Christmas Eve." That is what I wish for you, my friend. That you find your own personal magic. The magic to help you get through troubling times and appreciate the holidays in whatever way you can. That in your world it is Forever Christmas Eve- the time of excitement, believing, magic and hope. And that you find Christmas. Peace