djzyonseven

As Christmas approaches, I wanted to share a song and a memory.

One of my mother, Liz’s, favorite Christmas songs was “Silent Night” by The Temptations — and not just any version.
This version. The long one. The one that takes its time.
The one that feels like a full conversation instead of a quick holiday check-in.

My Mom had a Christmas Eve routine that never changed. She’d be in the kitchen cooking a soulful Christmas meal the night before, music playing through the house like seasoning.
My brother Stanley, my sister Londi, and I would stay up with her as long as we could… until sleep eventually won and we’d drift off, leaving her still cooking, still humming, still holding the whole house together.

Those were some of the best Christmas Eves of my life.
They meant everything to us.
I miss my Mother more than words can explain.

Every single time I hear this song, I’m right back there.
I’m still that teenage boy, sitting in the background, watching my mother cook the best meals I’ve ever eaten in this lifetime.
No rush. No stress. Just love, music, and home.

This song always made her rotation.
Every year. No exceptions.

I didn’t hear this particular extended version until I moved to Florida in the summer of ’86 — and once I did, it locked itself into my heart. It became one of mine, too. It’s been in my Christmas playlist year after year ever since.

A little trivia for my music heads:

This version comes from the 1980, Temptations album, “Give Love at Christmas“.
It’s longer than most renditions because of the spoken narration (voiced by Melvin Franklin), which turns the song into a story almost like a sermon.
That’s why it feels so intimate… like it’s being sung to you, not just performed for you.

Some songs don’t just play — they time travel.
This one takes me home.

Merry Christmas.
Hold your memories close.
t.