The Christmas Coven
in Giggles on December 19, 2022
Here we are…staring at the business end of the week before Christmas.
The lists to Santa have long-since been mailed. The Christmas dinner menu is planned. The presents are wrapped and under the tree…well…the presents are bought…wrapping is often a much hurried, and extremely last-minute activity. And, radio stations from FM to satellite, have musical merriment blasting the airwaves nonstop.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
I will readily admit that I am guilty of all of the above charges.
Christmas, at my house, starts sometime in OCTOBER.
I know this time of year is usually tense and full of high-stress situations. But, by and large, most folks are generally more pleasant and friendlier this time of year.
We all cannot help but to think and reminisce of Christmases past. Certain songs and movies lend themselves as messengers from times gone-by. I have a Christmas playlist that finds itself in rotation daily; one such song that always makes me stop and smile is A Mad Russian’s Christmas, from the group Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Years ago, Jeff and I took the kids to TSO when they stopped in Houston on their annual Christmas tour. My children are VERY familiar with my affinity for all-things Christmas: including my obsession with the music of the season. They were not strangers to the music of TSO. However, judging by all three of their jaw-dropping responses to witnessing the members of Trans-Siberian Orchestra walk out onto the stage for the first time…they actually had no knowledge of the group…at all.
Jeff and I told the children who we were going to see and when, that we would be having dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in downtown Houston, and they should dress accordingly. Truth be told, the kids were way more excited about the nice dinner than spending the evening at the orchestra.
But, they all put their best foot forward, and ratcheted up their excitement to an acceptable level to appease their overly-festive mother. They applied the same valiant effort a couple of years before, when we took them to see The Nutcracker. (Side note: Ethan fell asleep before the Rat King even made his appearance.)
As we entered into the concert hall, the kids were mildly impressed that we had such good seats…we were roughly ten or so rows from the stage. If they had to be here, at least they could see everything that was going on. I heard mumbled grumbling about the median age of the majority of the concert-goers, but nothing too terrible or disrespectful.
As the lights went down, a single electric guitar began its song; followed closely by the bass guitar and a deep rhythmic pounding of the drums. The room was completely dark.
Then, a single spot light illuminated a corner of the stage, and the band methodically marched to their predetermined places in front of a silent audience.
My children ALL sat up straight in the seats…Ethan leaned forward, as though trying to get just a little bit closer. Elliott was grinning from ear-to-ear, and keeping time with the bass guitar (that was his instrument in the school band). Emma sat stock-still, completely mesmerized. Ethan finally broke his concentrated stare, leaned over to me, and whispered, “Mom. You didn’t tell us that we were going to a Vampire concert! These guys looked like they walked right out of Twilight.”
I snorted.
He wasn’t wrong. The members of TSO all had long hair. They were all wearing long, black trench coats. They were all pale as moonlight. Their expressions? Nearly indescribable. And their music was absolutely spellbinding.
I had taken my family to see the Christmas Coven.
The performance we watched captivated us all. This Orchestra brought new life—exciting life into time-honored classics. They made lifelong fans of my three young children. And they provided our family with a memory, that while it only comes around once a year, that memory is as bright and vivid as the night it was made.
This week, as we all prepare our various families for faithful traditions, please take the time to dust off a memory of your own…even in the midst of making new ones. Even though this week is arguably the busiest week of the year for us, might I also encourage you to pause for a moment at the manger…close your eyes, take a breath, and remember the best Christmas moment of all time.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Here’s a link to a YouTube video of A Mad Russian’s Christmas by Trans-Siberian Orchestra… https://youtu.be/jGLAFPk1ip0