I love Christmas music.  (You have to have a heart made of wood chips not to!)  But of all the Christmas songs out there in the world – from the Madonnas to the (awful) Taylor Swifts to the Carpenters to the Gene Autrys of the world, there is no song that I love more than Bing Crosby’s version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”  Whenever I hear it, I’m transported back to my childhood, inside my parents’ jewelry store, which was decked out for the holidays.  6.5′ tall tree in a back corner, loaded with white, icy garland and shiny red balls.  Dad’s handmade wooden Santa’s workshop in the window.  Canned snow sprayed on the edges of the windows and doors, giving them a frosty look. Christmas decorations sitting inside the showcases, their tinsel glinting next to the rubies and diamonds and tennis bracelets that were for sale.

Mom constantly had Bing Crosby Christmas music playing, and Dad even rigged up speakers so that customers could hear the music outside our doors, too.  They were greeted by the cheery warmth of Bing’s voice as they entered our small store to make their Christmas purchases, and those moments have left an indelible print in both my mind and heart – and every memory seems to be wrapped up inside this one particular song.  New Christmas songs may come and go, but some classics, like this one, are simply incomparable.