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Of Christmas Chapels, Miracles and Holiday Traffic

jen murphy parker
8 min readDec 23, 2024

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Every year, when my older kids were younger, their small Episcopal K-8 would host a Christmas chapel on the last morning of school before the long winter break.

Before experiencing this live, I had seen such scenes in cozy Christmas movies and had assumed they’d been orchestrated with expert scripting and good art-direction. I didn’t know that real life could play out organically and so similarly.

I didn’t know it could be so merry.

On this morning, all of us parents would arrive, cramming into pews to watch as the kids paraded down the center aisle.

There were shy kids, looking down and walking fast to get it over with. There were less shy kids — hams my dad would call them — soaking in the attention, waving to this most adoring public.

Every kid would be decked like a finest hall. Most other days of the year at this school, students were plaided and khakied up in uniforms. But on this glorious day, they could choose their own fancy outfit. And so students arrived looking like miniature guests at a holiday party whose invitation had noted festive attire. There were sequins and flounce, slacks and button downs. Some little boys wore ties, even jackets. Some little girls wore bows that blocked their heads like a solar eclipse. Middle school girls wobbled on beginner heels. Middle school boys hobbled with fresh blisters from unfamiliar shoes.

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jen murphy parker
jen murphy parker

Written by jen murphy parker

Jen Murphy Parker is a San Francisco-based writer exploring what exists in the middle - of parenting, of health, of life.

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