By LAFE JONES

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the season I want to protect with both hands. I celebrate the “in between.”

When we say it’s the “most wonderful time of the year,” we are not talking about only two days, but rather the middle space right here.

You might feel it too—that soft shift after Thanksgiving, when the leftovers are still in the fridge and life quietly turns toward Christmas. Slowly bringing out the decorations, one dusty box at a time from the attic, and having memories of those days after Thanksgiving featuring strings of big, chunky lights on the living room floor and Sears and JCPenney catalogs, pages worn and circled in ink. It’s finally okay to listen to Christmas music and drink eggnog.

Nothing is urgent yet. We aren’t late for anything. We aren’t behind. We were just getting ready. Somewhere along the way, we turned this in-between time into a race: buying more, doing more, being more, hosting more, and posting more.

So here’s my gentle reminder about this wonderful in-between time. Let’s savor this stretch of weeks on purpose. Linger over your coffee a few extra minutes by the window. Drive the long way home just to look at your town’s Christmas lights—someone put a lot of work into installing those for your family’s enjoyment. Put on an old record or playlist that sounds a little like your childhood living room. Look over those Christmas cards daily and say a little prayer for the family that remembered you and yours. Take a quiet moment while shopping and celebrate the crowds and hustle as part of the merry part of the holiday. Take evening walks as the sun sets to enjoy neighborhood decorations and breathe in that cool air we look forward to all year. Write one real note in a Christmas card instead of just signing your name. Let the house be a little messy and the list be a little undone.

This in-between time was never meant to be a blur we rush through. It’s the quiet hallway between two big rooms—and sometimes that hallway holds the warmest memories. So this year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, let’s not just get through it. Let’s slow down, take a breath, and savor it—the way we did when Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and Andy Williams were still playing in the background and we put tinsel on a flocked real tree. Happy In Between to All.

Photo: Courtesy of Time-Life Music Collection