It's a Wonderful Life, the Grinch & Charlie Brown

Christmas will be here soon, and I have taken out the Christmas DVDs. I have "It's a Wonderful Life," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I started watching them right after I recovered from my Thanksgiving turkey hangover.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is one of my all time favorites. I cry my eyes out every time I watch it, even though I have seen it hundreds of times and I know how it's going to end. There is something magical about Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and the direction of Frank Capra that makes you believe in family, faith, and angels named Clarence getting their wings. It makes me stop and realize that one person does make a difference and touches so many other people, even though they might not think they are anything special, or that they have done anything spectacular in their lives. Lessons that I can carry with me throughout the year.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is one of my favorites, the animated version. I thought the live action version with Jim Carrey was good, but there is something about the voice of Boris Karloff as the narrator and the Grinch, and the animation of Chuck Jones that brings me back to when I was little and watched it on television. Same with "A Charlie Brown Christmas". The speech Linus gives at the end with the children singing at the end, still makes my eyes water, but it shows how the meaning of Christmas can get lost in all of the commericalism.

So, sit with your kids, your friends and family and watch a little bit of Christmas tradition. And don't forget the tissues!