For years, my wife and I, along with our in-laws, went to see a production of A Christmas Carol in Salt Lake City. We’d all drive across the valley from various locations around the state, usually fighting traffic in the snow, to a wonderfully small theater downtown and see a musical we’d seen on many occasions. And each and every time, it would put us into the holiday spirit. My family usually took up a whole row of seats ourselves: grandma and grandpa sandwiched between a few grandkids, their two adult daughters and son sitting in the wings with their spouses.

We took our oldest two children, Norah and Tristan, a couple of times. But after that, everyone slowly moved out of state for school or jobs, and slowly we couldn’t make it home for Christmas as much as we’d like. Then, with COVID-19 and the general interruptions of life, the tradition we all loved of seeing a live production of A Christmas Carol slowly became a wistful memory that we wished we could relive. But with the time and the distance, we weren’t sure how to make it happen.

Our youngest, Aspen, sadly never yet had the opportunity to share in the joy of this tradition with grandma and grandpa. So when Scrooge: A Christmas Carol became available on Netflix, I insisted that she watch it with me. It was a Saturday night, my son was doing homework in the kitchen, my wife and middle daughter were shopping and Aspen and I had absolutely nothing better to do than to snuggle up on the sofa for a charming introduction to my curmudgeonly old friend, Ebenezer Scrooge. I told her stories of seeing the play, and how much I valued this story during the holidays, and she just sat quietly, glued to the screen and the story of Scrooge. 

She asked me a lot of questions about ghosts at Christmas. She obviously didn’t know that it was a thing, so we Googled how ghosts were once a big part of Christmastime in Victorian England. Then she asked me how Scrooge could be so mean, and we talked about how the world, greed, hardship and lost love can make you mean sometimes, but then I said, “The world can make you nice again, too. Even if it takes visits from a few ghosts on Christmas.”

Aspen thought for a moment about my response. Then she said, “Is that what happens to Scrooge?” I shrugged, gave her a fatherly wink, and said, “You’ll see.”

Near the middle, she even asked me how old Scrooge was, and I made the grave mistake of searching online for the answer, and according to Google, Scrooge was only about 50 years old. “Dang,” I said. “I thought he was, like, 70.” I’ll admit, as a 40-year-old man, I was shook to discover that I only had 10 more years before I’d qualify for a life-changing visit from three ghosts and an old business partner. Naturally, I didn’t let any of this on with Aspen.

But I must say, what really captivated Aspen wasn’t having her dad at her side answering all her questions, even if looking up Scrooge’s age made me feel old. It was the animation. It’s a beautiful twist on Victorian England. The ghosts are spooky but not scary, and the music is absolutely wonderful. Every time a new ghost was presented, she gazed at it with mystified wonder, not sure if she was scared or excited. And that mix of emotions had her blue-green eyes hooked to the screen with curiosity. 

The best part of all –– for me anyway –– was that as she asked me questions, I got to tell her stories of the Christmases of my past. I told her about all the times we’d seen this play, and how much I missed spending that time with her grandma and grandpa. “It’s one of those things I wish we could get back, but honestly, I don’t know if we ever will.”

Aspen looked at me and asked the question all 8-year-olds ask once (or a million times) a day: “Why?”

“We all live so far away from each other,” I said. “Making it all work out would be pretty difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.”

She listened and nodded, which is really notable whenever you are with any child, but particularly one so young. She was quiet for a while. Once the movie was over, she asked if we could call grandma and grandpa. Over the phone, she asked if we could watch Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with them during our first visit to their house for Christmas in many years, and I could tell that in her own little way, she was trying to give me the gift of getting that old tradition I’d spoken so fondly about.

Grandma and grandpa gladly accepted, of course. And when they did, Aspen gave me the sweetest smile, and I couldn’t help but hug my daughter.