Roll up the ribbons

Roll up the ribbons,
Fold up the papers,
Stow all these dreams away!
This day is done, and another is on its way.

Pack up the present,
Look to the future,
One thing I know is true.
The best day of all is the day that is on its way.

Waiting for you.
Waiting for you.
Waiting for you.

(words by Tom Jones from the Broadway musical “I Do, I Do”)

I couldn’t help hearing these words in my head as Carolyn and I (mostly Carolyn) were once again taking down and wrapping up the Christmas decorations. It is a ceremony at least as important and significant to us as putting out the decorations after Thanksgiving. We can take our time putting away the decorations. We’re not in a rush and don’t have a party we have to be ready for.

And we can focus on the future. What will we put on this shelf now? Will this be the year we finally get a china cabinet or a grandfather clock? How will this year change our family? Where will we all be a year from now? And in what condition?

We don’t think about what might have been. We think about the “best day of all” that is waiting for us – ahead.