When I was growing up there was nothing better than the day the Sears catalog came in the mail. I would have to wait impatiently for everyone else to look at it first: dad, mom, sister, sister, brother, brother, and then me. My little sister is nine years younger than me, so she isn’t on my waiting list. The toys were always in the back so the first thing my brothers and I would do is flip it over, I can still feel the anticipation and thrill of it all. Here is the thing. We would only get a gift or two at Christmas which was fabulous, but we could spend countless hours looking through the catalogs from Sears and JCPenny. The first always being our favorite. We would make lists after lists of all the glorious toys we saw. We would do this day after day. We would dream and picture ourselves playing with a toy. Lists were written and rewritten depending on the day, but usually always had the same top three wishes. It didn’t matter that we were not going to get all the things we wanted. It was just the sheer joy of looking at all the toys and dreaming about them. We were always happy with whatever toy we were given at Christmas and the lists would be put aside. It would resurface around my birthday, but by then it would be tweaked again. Christmas is a time that we get to dream, celebrate, and enjoy all the festivities. Today I love looking at Christmas trees and lights. I love to go around finding beautiful trees and light displays. I love holiday food and spending time with my family and friends. It is all glorious, but there is something special about the memory of looking at the toys in the Christmas catalogs with my brothers as a kid. I hope everyone has a Christmas season filled with joy, love, happiness, and celebration!