Christmas needs a ‘magical’ ending to holiday spirit

NORMAN — In an earlier column I labored over the best time to take down Christmas decorations. For the record, I took my decorations down New Year’s Day. At least one person in my office hasn’t taken them down yet.

Milton Davis of Norman read the column with interest. He sent me an e-mail explaining how his family handled Christmas decorations while he was growing up.

Davis said his family always celebrated Advent before Christmas, with no decorations except an Advent wreath on the dining room table.

"Christmas Eve, as we left for church, my grandfather, then grandmother, would feign illness or something and wouldn’t go with us,” he wrote. "But when we returned home, the tree would be up, decorated, food displayed and stockings on the mantel. Santa came the next morning with all the gifts and we celebrated all the 12 days.”

Davis said on the final night, Epiphany, everyone came back to the house for a supper of leftovers made into casseroles and soups as they took down the decorations.

"The bare tree was taken outside and set afire, sending the spirit of Christmas back to the heavens,” Davis wrote. "Too bad so many people now conform to the ‘K-mart schedule,’ putting up a tree before Thanksgiving and taking it down after they open gifts Christmas morning. I like the old-fashioned way much better.”

I’ve never experienced the type of Christmas that Davis wrote about, but it does seem kind of magical. Maybe I’ll try something similar next Christmas.