My Christmas column in The Sun is a list of holiday wishes for anyone who reads it — all friends, known and unknown. A college professor once told me that wishing was silly, even at Christmas, that you can’t wish away a difficult or bad situation or wish for the impossible. Of course, any rational person would agree with that. But it doesn’t stop us, does it?
Wishing is just a way of expressing aspirations, the desire to achieve something, even if it seems unattainable. Wishing and hoping, setting personal goals for the coming year — those are all good things to do. It puts you in the category of people who make the most of life and want the same for others.
There’s one thing more I need to add to the list of Christmas wishes — a room full of memories.
Years ago, I hosted a Christmas party at what used to be Phil Dypsky’s saloon in Canton. Dozens of friends and coworkers came, and it was a great crowd; we all had a good time. I later had a dream about it — the same party, except people from my hometown and high school in Massachusetts came, and aunts and uncles and cousins came, and it was as if everyone in my life came.
Many times since, I’ve thought about that dream. Now, all these years later, with so many of those old friends and relatives absent from this life, I still imagine them coming into Dypsky’s saloon in winter coats, taking them off and staying a while. So many are gone — my family experienced three losses just this past year — but the memories remain.
Maybe you’ll take a quiet moment today to imagine and savor such a thing — a room full of those present and past, alive and absent, all together. What a great gift memories are. As Ralph Fisher says at the end of my play, “Memories are treasure.”
Dan Rodricks 
Beautiful column🎄🎄💗🎄🎄
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Beautiful reflections, beautiful wishes. 🎄🌟❤️
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Perfect column for today and all days. Best gifts of all are family, friends and the memories we cherish from our lives with them. Wishing you a very merry Christmas 🎄
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No one is more thoughtful and more capable of expressing his thoughts than Dan Rodricks. Thanks, Dan & Merry Christmas!
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Beautiful, as always……and it shows why it is so painful to watch someone lose their memories, and therefore their treasures
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Memories are the gifts that bring us endless treasures!
Wising you E Felice Anno Nuovo filled with beautiful memories ‼️
Thank you, Danny for all the memorable moments with your beautiful writing!
Grazie Mille‼️
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Ah, to wish and to dream and to hope. Our treasure trove for life on this beautiful planet.
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Thanks Dan…. So beautifully written. Our family embraces the same sentiment of having the spirit and memories of loved ones around us who are no longer with us on this earth. Merry Christmas to you and yours…. and a hopeful New Year (and many more of your writings to read for us fans)! Bonnie
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<
div dir=”ltr”>Dan,
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div>…and a Merry Christmas to you and your family. So far, haven’t seen any cedar waxwings (or any other bird) above the Yough for a few days. I suspect they’re hunkered down
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Loved this! We all experience losses, some years more than others. After the holidays, the depths of winter, it is very difficult to find inspiration to pull from and get through the dark days. Thank you for sharing.
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