when I was growing up, we never lost sight of the reason for the season - the miracle of Aqua Jesus. every year my parents would tell the story of how Jesus would begin to stir at the beginning of December, rising up from the bed of the ocean, and how each and every day he would draw closer and closer to the surface, until on Christmas day he would miraculously spring forth from the bosom of the ocean, reborn once again.
we never got tired of hearing that story. of course, probably all the presents we got on the day when Aqua Jesus burst out of the depths had a lot to do with it, but I like to think that even when we were little, some part of our excitement was spiritual.
anyway, one of my first Christmas memories was our advent calendar, a blue felt ocean, with a little felt Aqua Jesus and sea creatures, and every day you'd move Aqua Jesus one notch closer to the surface, and all the other sea creatures would come out of their specially-marked felt pockets--Eli the Christmas Eel was always my favorite. well, on some move or another that calendar got lost, but this year my mom and my sister got out the old felt and scissors, and made me a new one, just like the one we had when I was growing up. thanks, mom! here it is, on the wall of my apartment.
