Christmas Caroling: Where Are You Now?

When I was a small child I went Christmas Caroling every year with my family, walking house to house in our neighborhood in our Christmas best singing our favorite Christmas tunes. We visited the local retirement homes, police and fire stations hoping we were helping bring the Christmas spirit to everyone we sang for. I felt special dressing up and spending the evening with my family doing something fun and invigorating. As I grew older my family quit caroling every year, mostly this was due to fewer and fewer neighbors welcoming us to their doorsteps. As time went on my parents felt that we were just intruding and that our jovial songs were no longer desired.

The last time I remember accepting an offer of caroling on my front porch was the Christmas of 1997, our local high school glee club were making rounds throughout my neighborhood singing their young hearts out for all to enjoy. They knocked gently on our front door as if they feared disturbing our family and meekly asked if we would care to listen to a few of their chosen songs. When I answered yes their faces lit up and they fell into position alongside each other just as I rembered doing as a child so many years ago.

They sang the classics; Jingle Bells, O Cristmas Tree and of course Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Boisterous and slightly out of tune they forged on but in the end I could not help the feeling of warmth that overtook me listening to their voices sing the lyrics of songs I knew so well. As they finished the last song of the night, one of the young gentleman brought me a small wrapped gift and wished my family and I a Merry Christmas. I thanked them and watched as they approached the home next to me. I opened the gift with a little excitement not knowing what to expect, inside the tissue paper was a tape that included every song they had just performed; I still play that tape every Christmas.

Since that long ago night not one single caroler has walked down my street. Each time my doorbell rings in the days approaching Christmas I feel a little bit of that warmth creep into my soul, hoping that who stands on the other side is bringing the sound of Christmas to share with us all. I bake extra cookies in the hopes of offering to carolers and each year my cookies go stale waiting for songs that are never sung.