“FELIZ NAVIDAD” – CHRISTMAS EVE

The best version of this Jose Feliciano song I ever heard isn’t recorded – unfortunately.

It was performed on December 24, 2010, at my family’s Christmas Eve celebration.

Every year, my father would give a toast as he celebrated the gathering of his family. That gathering meant so much to him – he and my mother viewed us as their greatest achievement, and Christmas Eve was the manifestation of that.

Instead of his usual toast, he began to sing “Feliz Navidad.” He made up words as he went along, mixing in Spanish, English and – because he was my father – Italian.

It was magical, if not particularly loyal to the original.

And, as I look back on it, it was a gift. He knew that he was beginning to disappear into the world of Alzheimer’s – and this little song was his way of saying goodbye to us. He would live another six difficult years, but this was his last real chance to tell us how much he loved us.

To me, the songs of this season are not mere words and music. They have a power to evoke memory and remind us of what’s great about life. When they do that, they make the friends and family we love immortal – at least as far as we’re concerned.

So Jose Feliciano’s version will suffice. I’m grateful to him for it – for inspiring my father to wish us a Buon Natale from the bottom of his heart.