Sweet Sounds of the Season by Kerry Kijewski

The memories continue with another Holiday Smile contest winner:

I remember the innocence of childhood during the holidays. Christmas could always make me smile. Although I had more sight back then, I don’t remember how much I could see the excited faces of my siblings or others at such a jolly time of year.

My voice would burst with delight on coming out to the living room to discover a new pink doll house I had wanted. Then my brother began to chatter happily about a new toy from the braille Christmas list he’d painstakingly written out for Santa. He could not see my smile nor I his, but we were both grinning from ear to ear.

A smile isn’t only something visual, to be seen sparkling on a loved one’s face. You can hear it in a person’s voice when they are smiling broadly. The tone of their voice immediately changes and a certain ticking noise can be picked up in their speech. Their voice cracks, as if their cheeks are expanding and they are. It is a feeling that I now sense, although I can no longer spot a grin or a wide smile on the faces of my niece or my nephews.

The boys love Elmo. The two-year-old jabbers on happily and the one-year-old shrieks out, hugging his toy tightly. My niece gleefully examines her brand new art supplies. I do remember how excited I would get at just such a Christmas present when I was her age and colors were still bright.

Although Christmas has lost a little of that remembered innocence and brightness, for me, as an adult, I hear the smiles of the newest generation and I smile too.
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Kerry Kijewski was born blind, but believes that it is without words that she would truly be in the dark. She has a Certificate of Creative Writing and is working on a novel she wrote for National Novel Writing Month last year. She lives with her literary themed dog Dobby and cat Lumos in Ontario, Canada.

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