As it is for so many people, the Christmas season is very special to Kate and me. Many of our favorite memories (now it’s really “my” memories) are of events that happened during this season. Our first date was to attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah at TCU on December 19, 1961. We became engaged a year later on that same day. Of course, there was the excitement of announcing the engagement to Kate’s family when everyone gathered for Christmas dinner at Kate’s parents’ home. Over the years we have had a number of special trips during the first or second week of December. We have especially enjoyed New York City at this time of year. All this is to say that I approach this season with the kind of feeling we associate with this time of year.
I have often conveyed how much Kate and I enjoy the performing arts. This year we are having a musical Christmas. We attended the Christmas program at the Flat Rock Playhouse this past Saturday as well as our Christmas dinner at Casa Bella that included a full musical program of popular Christmas music. Last night we added one more musical experience to this year’s celebrations. This was also at Casa Bella. This time it was a program of more classical Christmas favorites. This program also included a few of the popular ones as well as more audience participation. Kate joined in on the singing. She had a great time, and so did I. It was especially nice being with the Adairs. In addition, the restaurant was decorated beautifully, and we have seen so many of the people in attendance that we all seem to have a sense of being with close friends. If we hadn’t already been in the Christmas spirit, this would have given us a good jump start.
