Tonight, I had the pleasure of watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV.

Now, as childhood memories go, that one is pretty stupendous.  Huge.  Enormous.

I think for me, as a kid, that was one of the best nights of the entire year.  It meant a lot of things to me, really.

It was excitement.  Entertainment.   It was imagination. It was dreaming, and hoping, and anticipation.

When Rudolph came on TV it was one very special attraction in living rooms across America.  But in my mind.  Oh the splendor of it all.

The timing of the show…. meant that Christmas was around the corner.  Santa’s sleigh, filled with presents.  That crack of the dawn Christmas morning… with all the trimmings, frankincense, yule tide, chestnuts, comfort, joy and the likes.  Probably a new clothing item… .maybe a new GI Joe with a Kung-Fu Grip.  Ahhhhhh…. the beauty of that phenomenon.

But the Rudolph Show itself was magical.  I marveled tonight when I realized it is just an hour in length.  As a child, it seemed to go on all night.

And the part when the Abominable Snowman peers over the top of the mountain ridge!  As a kid, I thought I would pee myself when that happened.  Tonight was much the same… but for different reasons.  Too much coffee, dang it.

Yes.  But so many lessons to be learned from Rudolph, Hermey, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius, The Snowman, aka Bumble.  And the whole island of misfits.  Maybe this is why I liked the show so much…. those misfits.  King Moonracer, and Charlie-In-The-Box,  and Bird Fish, and such.  Oh, that island was a place where anyone could fit in.

This little film had it all.  Singing, Dancing, Pet Tricks, Career Advice, Drama, Suspense, Comedy.  Not only that…. but good Santa, Rudy, and the gang, figured out a way to find a perfect place in the world for every one of those toys. Every one. Yep.  How great is that?

And maybe that is why I still have the belief that all of us belong.  All of us deserve to fit.  Each and every person has their own perfect place in the world.  I only wish we could figure out a way to make that really work.

So.

Thank heaven for the square wheels on the caboose of Trainer the train.  How else could it be.

It is perfect.