Nine years ago, I made my way over to a modest apartment.   It was nestled in some trees and built on rolling hills, not far from some of the best shopping and eating destinations our city has to offer.  It was a week before Christmas, and I didn’t have a gift.   It was still a bit earlier, since we had only met a few weeks before.    This was to be my last night seeing my new boyfriend, as he was travelling back to NY to see his family for Christmas, at least until a few days before New Year’s Eve.

When I walked into his apartment, the room was candlelit, Frank Sinatra played in the background and a beautiful dinner was set up on the table.   My breath was taken away.   How wonderful this was!   I couldn’t believe someone would go to this effort for me.

After dinner, I was treated to wine and a movie.   It was a movie of his choosing and he was eager to share it with me.   He told me it was his favorite movie of all time.    I sat back on the couch, my wine glass in hand, a bowl of popcorn sitting alongside me and watched as the movie credits began to roll.   I nearly gasped when I saw the names “Bing Crosby” and “Rosemary Clooney” pop up with the title “White Christmas”.   My boyfriend’s favorite movie was a musical and one that I knew by heart!  We laughed and sang and reminisced all night about this movie.   It was one of my most treasured times with the man that would become my husband.

This year, much like any other year, we pull out White Christmas usually a couple of nights before Christmas and watch it together.   We did it last year when Davey was not even 3 months old, much too early to really comprehend anything, as he slept in my arms.   This year was much different and just as treasured as that first time I saw it with my future husband.

Davey loves music, as do most children I assume.   He quickly learned to dance, or at least offer up his version of it, shortly after he began walking at 9 months.  At first, he looked like one of those tall pole-like windsock men, the ones you see outside of car dealerships everywhere.   He would sway and jerk from head to toe, doing his best to keep up with the beat of the music.   These days he’s becoming a bit more advanced.

I love that he climbed in my lap and watched the non-singing parts of the movie.   I chuckled when he would drop everything for the rehearsal of the “Minstrel Number” and stand in front of the TV, eyes unwavering as he soaked in every movement the dancers’ feet made.   My heart actually sighed as I thought back to my first time seeing this movie as a child with my Uncle Doug and Aunt Linda.   I progressed through my memory with each time I watched the movie and it all culminated together to the truly greatest moment I’d had with this movie…my little boy watching it with me.

Will this always be the case?   Will he always enjoy this movie and look forward (much as I have) to a tradition my husband and I started 9 years ago?   Probably not, but to watch him as he intently focused on this movie melted my heart and put me in a state of pure bliss.   It’s not a huge thing and every family has their traditions.   And maybe this wasn’t exactly a blog worthy time, but for me it was literally the best Christmas I’ve had, second only to last year which was my first as a mother.   Those cherished moments of Davey sitting in my lap are fleeting, but they’ve now officially been added into the file of memories kept away in my mind.   Easy to pull out and never changing.    I can replay it over and over in my head and for me, that’s a great gift.