A Christmas Miracle

Finding a gift for my parents has always been bitter/sweet for me.  I want to get them something they need but they have everything they need. They have a whole boutique stocked with everything they "need."  I've come to the conclusion that it's not about spending a lot of money, it's about finding something that will warm their hearts and let them know it's a gift I really thought about.  This year I did just that.  But what started out as a fun gift idea ended up being a little more work than I had anticipated.  It's "bitter" figuring out the gift but oh so "sweet" once it's executed.  Here's the letter I wrote them which explains it all:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Christmas time was always so magical in our home growing up, and I can clearly remember the smell of the cookies baking in the oven and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing in the background. I remember all of us monkeys thinking The Little Drummer Boy was the perfect excuse to shake our booties. The memories of hanging ornaments on the tree while the choir sang “Baby What You Going To Be” will forever be etched in my brain. Dad redecorating the tree will also never be forgotten. I love Christmas and I have wonderful memories spending such a magical time of the year with my family. You made it so fun, providing a happy, healthy, and joyful atmosphere. We all truly had such a whimsical and delightful upbringing. Thank you for that.

Last year Mom mentioned that she wasn’t fond of the Christmas music you currently have and missed the older music we used to listened too. I realized I was pretty sick of what little holiday music I had as well, so I went to work trying to find the best music this season has to offer. In particular, I wanted to find that same Mo-Tab music with all of our favorite songs they used to sing. So, for the past year I have periodically been searching for this album that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang. Whenever I remembered I did a quick search on eBay or Google to see if it would miraculously resurface. I was, however, always disappointed after scouring Deseret Book, and other LDS websites to discover that I couldn’t even find the title of the album we all listened to. I became somewhat obsessed with this treasure hunt of mine. I knew it had to be out there somewhere and I somehow felt that if I had this album, it would make Christmas feel just as magical as it did in that old kitchen with the pull out cutting board, the cookie cutters, the fogged up windows, the smell of pin wheel cookies and all my family together singing along. I was on a mission!

I finally started contacting all the old ladies in my ward. I started with the ones that I knew were old enough to own a cassette tape and also be “classy” enough to enjoy the likes of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I didn’t have a lot of luck with the first couple of people I asked but finally had some good fortune when talking to a woman who had the Donnie and Marie version of “Baby What you Going To Be” and said she thought she knew the name of the other album the Mo-Tab sang (I wasn’t interested in her Donny and Marie versionJ ). She emailed me a few days later with a Google link to the very album I was looking for. A White Christmas by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I did a little more research and found that it was never even made into a CD because it was first produced back in 1976!! But I had the title now and that was a HUGE leap in the right direction.

I went on eBay again and entered my newfound information. I was thrilled to find an old vinyl record with the starting bid at $4.99. I was the first bidder and was pretty excited about the fact that I would probably be the only one. A few days later I returned to Ebay ready to purchase my record when I found I had been outbid by someone else. Total shocker for two reasons. First, who on earth is looking for this Mo-Tab album and second, why would he/she want it in a vinyl record for Pete’s sake?!! Feeling a little downtrodden I decided to take a break for a few days. I thought I had found the jack pot! All I would have had to do is take the record to a recording studio and have them convert it into a CD.

A week later I decided to search again. This time I tried both Ebay and Amazon and what do you know? I found a cassette tape on Amazon!! It was a little pricier ($15.00) but totally worth every penny (so I thought). It came in the mail a week later and after having a conversation with one of my computer genius friends, I learned that her husband had all the equipment in his home to convert the tape into a CD. I was as pleased as punch because the nearest recording studio was about 30 minutes away and I didn’t have time to drive up there. I dropped the tape off to their house and waited patiently. I finally got an email from Neal (her husband) saying that the tape was VERY damaged and “did I know how old this thing was?” He said he would try to salvage as much of the tape as he could with what access he had to his computer . I received the CD a few days later at church and after thanking him a thousand times over (I got them a gift…don’t worry), I took it home for a listen.

I was walking around the kitchen with George on my hip listening to every song, and as I heard the doctored version of my childhood memories, I was astonished to find that Neal made it sound really good. It of course sounds old but I wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s how I remember it!! Tears welled up in my eyes as the choir sang “Lullaby” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Everything I remembered came flooding back so strongly that I could almost smell those cookies!! I had a little moment of longing to be in that kitchen again but the tears also manifested to me how grateful I was/am to be a daughter in your family and to have been raised by such wonderful parents. Gratitude was bursting out of my heart that day and it still is today. Hopefully you can listen to this same CD and think of us little kids trying to steal bits and pieces of dough and singing opera in overly high pitched (and probably ear piercing) voices. I plan to pop it my CD player this Christmas and huddle my littles around me while we bake in our kitchen here in Texas. Memories for certain will be engraved, and perhaps one day Sadie will go on a treasure hunt of her own.

　
Love you both ridiculously and immensely!
Snabigail

P.S. I had a chance to listen to the actual cassette tape in Chase’s car the other day and couldn‘t believe how damaged it really is. Every song was slurred and scratched.. Neal truly performed a Christmas miracle when burning that CD for us!!

I can always tell if my mom likes a gift when, as she opens it, starts to cry.  It's definitely the gift that will keep on giving every time Christmas rolls around.  Glad I snagged a copy for myself as well:-)