I Believe in Father Christmas

There's a song by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer called "I Believe in Father Christmas"...it's a very sweet and Christmassy sounding song, with chimes and sound effects....It's about a child and his profound memories of a very special time of year....Christmas...
For me, the Christmas season was magical when I was a child....anticipating the presents I would get on Christmas Eve when our families and cousins would get together, the Christmas Tree smell in the house, I would go up and just smell the tree and hug myself, I loved the time of year, the music, the spirit in the air really....And, quite frankly as a kid, I would wonder what presents I was gonna get, I would snoop around under the tree looking for my name on them...
As I got older, the tradition changed...as my cousins moved on, it was just me and my parents who celebrated Christmas together, but always in a fun way, whether it was San Francisco or Las Vegas....I remember a Christmas Eve in Vegas in '92 or so, when my dad sang along to Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus" at the Fremont Street Experience....

Then it comes, we lose the people we love...my dad had a heart attack on December 10, then died on the 18th....my friend Shawn lost her dad also on the 10th, and recently we heard of another who lost HER dad...and there has been a tragic car crash locally in which four kids...teenagers, lost their lives....
What a terrible thing to happen, right before Christmas....It will change the holiday for their families forever, right before Christmas, of all times...
And it's changed ours...
But still, the spirit of the Holiday itself, like a never-ending sprout from the ground, it makes its way through sadness and cynicism, when you can still decorate a tree, or drive by a neighborhood with a ton of lights and smile, or see a Santa Claus....or 'Father Christmas' as the British call him....then yes, I Believe in Father Christmas.
And a Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to You All!