May your days be "Merry and Bright"

"May Your Days be Merry and Bright" is a heartfelt expression shared during the holiday season to lift spirits, spread kindness, and create lasting memories. It is hope that the coming year will be filled with blessings. 

So far this Christmas season has been "Merry and Bright" for me. I seem to be busy with invitations. It is hard to imagine that at my age there are things I have never done before. I wore an ugly sweater for the first time, yes, I have dodged that bullet so far. I borrowed a sweater; it was not an investment I wanted to make. My second new thing was, I joined my good friend's grade 5/6 French class for a raclette lunch. I am familiar with raclette, but it was amazing to see it through the eyes of a young student. I was in absolute awe of the ability the students had to speak French so fluently. Such a fun day for me.

My lunch contribution

The weather has messed a bit with my merry and bright. It seems every time I attempt to go out of town to a Christmas party, it says "you aren't going anywhere". Weather always wins, I'm just not as brave as I used to be. The weather has been entertaining with the new colored alerts that seem to be showing up often. I am familiar with red which means extreme cold but now yellow is popular which is freezing rain/blowing snow or orange which is a blizzard. I will take red any day. One day we were even privileged to be in a zone with two color alerts.

Merry and Bright begins when I put my decorations up. The house rules are that decorating happens after my birthday, at the end of November. I made a big decision this year to not put up outside lights. I would just use pre-lit items to decorate. I gathered up all of my unused lights and gave them away to the first person that answered my posting on Facebook. She gave me a hug and said, "now I have lights at Christmas". 

I had never heard of the program, "Cooper Shopper" until a good friend spoke about it. Her daughter, who is a police officer was one of the shoppers. How it works is a child is nominated; the sponsors give them money to shop with a police officer. The nominees are underprivileged children. It all came together when I read a posting on Facebook written by a mom sharing her son's shopping adventure. The picture of the cop was my friend's daughter. His teacher had nominated him. This boy's dad had passed away, and times were tough for them. He always wanted to be a cop and after this experience he dreams even more of it. For children to see police in such a generous way, is what we need to know about. This program has been going on for several years, but it was new to me. This boy and his family will have a Merry and Bright Christmas amidst their grief. The whole event is sponsored by Crime Shoppers, Brandon Police Force and Shoppers Mall. 

Christmas is a special time of year. Everyone has their own way of defining, "Merry and Bright". It is a time to be filled with positive thoughts and optimism. The holiday is much more than just gifts and decorations; everyone has their own true meaning. Merry and Bright combines both celebration and calm, perfect for anyone who values the peaceful moments of the holiday season.

I hope everyone is able to find a "Merry and Bright" in this holiday season. I know it will be hard for some of you as you navigate your personal struggles. If nothing else, try to find joy in an everyday moment. Take away just one precious moment and others will follow. My Christmas wish to each of you is that your year ahead will be filled with blessings.