The Baby Spread the Message of Joy
On Christmas afternoon, our 19-month-old great-granddaughter, Daisy clearly demonstrated the reason Jesus said, “Bring the children to me.”
For many years, our large family always gathered in our home on Christmas Eve to eat, give gifts to the children, and sing Christmas songs. For most years, our grandson, Lane played his guitar. Kirsten and I always played some 4-handed piano renditions and Joy led the singing. On some occasions, our grandkids in school bands participated with respective instruments. Due to COVID, we decided to hold our Christmas singing over zoom this year.
Okay — I now know that joining music from various locations does not work well over zoom. The music came through fine except we were out of sync with one another. A bit disjointed, to say the least. Joy, with her ukulele, urged us to sing with full hearts, even if the music did not quite sound right. And so, we played and sang quite un-masterfully on Christmas afternoon.
Two of our Austin teens joined in the singing when asked to unmute. One grandson hummed along as he cooked in Arkansas. Our son and his wife in New Mexico listened and sang while making tamales from scratch. A daughter in California and her three children joined us. Ana, one of our California granddaughters gave us a tour of their Christmas decorations and Joy shared their Christmas beauty.
A lot of fun-filled with laughter. An amazing family connection, even if not exactly what I had hoped to achieve.
Back to the great-granddaughter, Daisy. Each time the music began, she would either join us by blowing in and out on her harmonica or she would dance. Her enthusiasm over-flowed. No worries about being in tune or staying with the rhythm. She did not notice if the piano ended before the voices sang the final words. She smiled, twirled, and did her own singing of sorts. She even removed her shoes and tried on her dad’s boots with her little red Christmas dress. At one point, Daisy stepped up to the screen and began pointing to family members she has not been able to see because of COVID.
“Who dat?” she would ask as she pointed to various faces.
When her parents shared their news of a baby brother coming in July, Daisy heard all of us say, “Wow!” She immediately copied the new word and began shouting “Wow — Wow — Wow!” Did she understand her dad’s explanation that the baby’s initials will be W.O.W? Did she get the message that wow was the first thing her dad uttered upon learning the gender of their new baby? None of that mattered to her. She had clearly mastered a new word and was happy that her new word obviously made everyone smile each time she repeated it.
While some of us fretted about technology, the proper musical sounds, and the correctness of the music, Daisy reminded us that this season has been and will always be about spreading joy. Jesus obviously recognized this feature in children and appreciated their innocence and exuberant love.
Our great-granddaughter got the joyful Christmas message and gave the gift to all of us. Thank you, Baby Girl for your poignant reminder to live in the moment and express from the heart.
Feliz Navidad, Little One.
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