I Love Christmas

Let me just come out and say it.  I love Christmas more than any other holiday, I love Christmas more than any other person I have ever met.  If you could see my tiny studio apartment you would think there had been some sort of Christmas explosion and I love it that way.  One of the things I love about Christmas is all of the heartwarming stories, and songs, and pictures and all of those wonderful things.  I know some people may find it sappy or trite but I love the comfort of a good Christmas story.

Virginia Sorensen's Miracles on Maple Hill is not technically a Christmas story but it contains all of the elements I love about Christmas.  Miracles on Maple Hill is the story of young Marly the year her family moved from the city to the country.  Marly's father has just returned from the war and he has returned much changed.  In a last effort to regain their old piece the whole family moves to the small cottage where Marly's mother spent her summers growing up-Maple Hill. 

This isn't just the story of one man's recovery (ok I didn't give that much away, I said I loved it becuase it had all the things I loved about Christmas you should have been able to guess it had a happy ending).  It is the story of a family, of their journey, the friends that they make and the lessons they learn along the way. One of my favorite parts of the story was the relationship between Marly and her brother Joe.  Joe is the all-knowing older brother whom Marly adores and I loved seeing the way the two itneracted.

This story is filled with heart.  So much so that at other times of the year I may write it off as being too sappy, but this close to Christmas it was exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.  That's one of the most special things about Christmas.  Christmas means that we don't all have to pretend to be tough, we can all admit we're people who love happy endings and sweet sappy stories. 

Loving a sappy story...that's kids stuff.