Two days ago – to my astonishment – I celebrated my 40th Christmas. As I got ready to travel to Maryland, I could not believe that I have had four decades of December 25ths. But as I prepared for my favorite holiday of the year – I started to reminisce about Christmas memories from year’s past that will stay with me for all time – and thought I would share them with you:

· As a child, I saw the Christmas special, “John Denver And The Muppets – A Christmas Together.” After the show aired, they came out with an album of all the songs from the television holiday special. On the same Christmas, both my mother and grandmother bought me the album – and within a few years – I wore them both out and still know the words to every single song to this day.

· When I used to travel to my father’s house in New Jersey from Brooklyn, he and I used to listen to country music on the New York AM radio station 1050 WHN. Of all the music that came on the station – my favorite singer was Kenny Rogers. And one Christmas, I was given a present from my dad – and it was every single Kenny Rogers album ever released.

· For many years, I used to attend the Saint Edmund’s Christmas Fair on Avenue T and East 19th Street in Brooklyn. One year, many years after my father passed away, I went to the Fair and donated some Walt Disney videos for them to raffle off on a roulette wheel where people would donate five dollars and pick a number – and if your number hit – you would win the videos. So right before I left the Fair, they had the raffle for the videos. As soon as they spun the wheel, I looked up at the Heavens and to my Father and said to myself, “13.” And sure enough – that is the number that hit – which to me – was my Father’s way of saying that I did something good for my fellow man.

· One year, when I worked for a Brooklyn newspaper as the News Editor, I got a letter from a reader who told me that she had three children and they needed coats for Christmas. I immediately brought the letter to my publisher in the hopes that he would donate coats to her children – which he did not do. So, with the cooperation of my first wife Elisabeth – we sent this woman a $150 Sears gift certificate to buy her three sons coats for Christmas. After she received the gift certificate – she sent me a card that said this: “Dear Mr. Wein, your generosity touched our hearts and lives. You took time to reach out to us in our time of need and we’ll always remember you.”

I am sure all of us have our own special Christmas memories like these, and I hope that this year – you made more – and always will.