I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve (Karen Saboe)

“Please Grandma, will you sing ‘I am so Glad Each Christmas Eve?’”


Can you hear her?  Can you hear Grandma singing?   What was it about listening to that song in Norwegian that stilled those of us gathered around the piano each Christmas Eve?  That deep alto voice, flowing from deep in her soul.  Her face contemplating memories of times past.  We loved to hear the Norwegian, and “see” what seemed to be memories emblazoned on her mind.    


I used to wonder about Grandma’s Christmas Eves.  What were they like?  I wish I had asked.
 
I wondered about this small baby, and tried to imagine a King.
 
I could tell my grandma “saw” her mother.  Each Christmas Eve.
Her eyes closed for this verse.  That was the wonderment of listening and watching Grandma sing.


I saw my Grandma’s faith every day.  But at Christmas, the message of her faith came in this song.  In a deep alto voice.

My Grandma often commented around Christmas time, “Even if I die in July, I want Christmas carols sung at my funeral, maybe ‘Silent Night’?”  Grandma died on December 21, 1995, about a month shy of her 90th birthday.  “Silent Night” seemed perfect.  Each Christmas Eve still, I hear her singing.