A Winter Wonderland

I went to Winterhaven last night with my dad. It's a neighborhood in which every house puts up lights and decorations for Christmas and people come from all over Tucson to see it. It's called the festival of lights and takes place every year. As a child I loved going to Winterhaven. It was so amazing to see all the lights and the many different ways people celebrate Christmas. Some of the houses have spectacular light displays and others use a mixture of lights and large figurines to decorate. There are very artistic displays and humorous displays, but almost everything is enjoyable to see. Last night was the first time I had gone since I was a teenager and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking at all the houses was not only fun but the memories it brought back were nice as well. I remember times when my dad would take just my sisters and I and we could drive as slow as we wanted through the neighborhood. I also remember times when we were packed in the care like sardines and my mom was begging my dad to not stop at every house and look for fear we might all suffocate from lack of oxygen. I also remember the few times we walked and it was soooo cold. This year I rode in a wagon and that was pretty cool. It was very cold, but it moved at a nice slow pace so you could see everything.
I had an interesting thought, though, as I left Winterhaven last night. Perhaps it wasn't necessarily how magnificent or amazing the lights displays were or how incredible the houses looked that made Winterhaven so special to me as a child. Perhaps it was the sense of closeness it brought to my family, the sense of family tradition that was born as each year we made our way to that neighborhood. Perhaps it was the cups of hot chocolate that we shared and the huddling together to stay warm that made the times as a child so precious to me. I know that last night it wasn't that Winterhaven was magical that made it enjoyable. It was being with my dad and having the opportunity to have him be a part of my life again that made last night special. The lights and decorations certainly made things nice, but for some reason, they weren't what I noticed most last night. I noticed most how much I've missed my dad and how glad I was that he was there with me last night. I could have been anywhere with him and it would have been a winter wonderland.