Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 21

December 21st - Christmas Music

What songs did your family listen to during Christmas?
My family listened to an eclectic collection of Christmas songs. Mostly the traditionals and those with religious significance. As well as the children's favorites, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman"!

Did you ever go caroling?
I went caroling for the first time when I was 12. I went to a private school, and our homeroom teacher took us caroling on the streets of her neighborhood, and then back to her teeny tiny apartment for hot chocolate. [Imagine 24 rather rambunctios 12 year olds in a 400-square foot apartment!] After we moved to the mountains and I was a teen, I went caroling every year. A bunch of us would gather on the spur of the moment and walk our country lanes, stopping at each little farm house and sing. Sometimes we were offered hot cocoa or cakes or cookies as we stopped at a farm. I haven't been caroling since I was 17. But oh, how I loved it!

Did you have a favorite song?
As a young girl, [less than 10], I think my favorite was "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". But as I got a little oolder, it became a real treat to hear Grandpa Dreher sing "Stille Nacht", and it replaced the old as my favorite. Today? I still hold "Stille Nacht" as a dear, dear favorite. But I cannot call Christmas complete until I hear Celine Dion sing "Oh, Holy Night". Something about the way she sings it, brings chills and such warmth and reverence to the song! It transports you to the Christ Child's birth! Love it!

Did your family listen to Christmas music? Did you have a favorite song? Did you ever go caroling?