How a 'Sesame Street' Christmas special keeps reaching my grown-up heart

I was born in 1980 — barely.

Arriving in mid-December, I showed up for the last two weeks of the year. Perhaps quite naturally, I developed an abiding affinity for the cultural trappings of Christmas. I came into a world of evergreens, radiant lights and carols softly crooned in the background of every scene. And I longed for the world to always stay that way.

As a child of the '80s and '90s, I also progressed in time with the moving pictures beaming back from "Sesame Street." Before Elmo became the red, furry sun around which the PBS show revolved, Gordon and Susan, Luis and Maria, Bob and Mr. Hooper taught their Muppet counterparts — and those of us tuning in — to name and navigate a world of numbers, letters and questions older than us.

Despite the abundance of holiday specials transmitted in our household, "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" eluded me. The hour-long program arrived just before I did, in 1978; I wouldn't discover its particular charms until combing the children's shelves at Columbia Public Library with my son a few years ago. Now it's part of our Christmas canon.

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The special gathers a series of delights. A game of Crack the Whip sends Oscar the Grouch tumbling, trash can and all, through the halls and down the stairs of an ice rink. Bert and Ernie live out their own reading of O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi." Cookie Monster devours a number of props while penning a letter to Santa, then embraces the irony of a child's traditional offering to St. Nick — milk and, of course, cookies.

And with the help of his friends, Big Bird takes on the role of existential detective, hoping to forever solve the riddle — and thereby assure the presence — of one benevolent man and his sack of toys descending chimney chutes each Dec. 24.

What still captivates me, even after my son has pressed play dozens of times, are the songs. This season's first airing of "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" came just a day before news that original cast member Bob McGrath died on Dec. 4 at age 90 — and we've already watched the special several times since.

As always, Bob brings gentle wisdom and a generous spirit to these original Christmas songs. On the early number "A True Blue Miracle" — which my now 9-year-old and I sing to each other in and out of season — he shares a verse with Gordon, played by Roscoe Orman.

They trade the lines "I believe in miracles / I know because I've seen / Once a year the place I walk is filled with trees of green" before their voices effortlessly rise, meeting to match the words "And pine cone smells of Christmas / Floating thru the air / To jingle bells of Christmas."

Later, Bob leads a small children's chorus, both singing and signing "Keep Christmas With You." McGrath's voice takes on a special resonance as he sings "The goodness of loving / The gladness of living / These are Christmas too."

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These lyrics underscore a simple gift, one we can give ourselves over and again without wearing it thin. A sense of possibility, that Christmas can come alive in us as often as we rehearse its wonder. This sentiment is what children seem to instinctively understand at this time of year — and is the first, most significant thing to go as we grow up and let the genuine coldness of the world calcify us.

With the help of my son's determination and the kind tenor of Bob McGrath — both persistent in their own way — I have the chance to reconnect with my seemingly inborn love of Christmastime.

I cannot know what McGrath was truly like, how he spent his Christmases away from the pre-fabricated New York City of "Sesame Street." We say of child actors, "They grew up before our eyes." Well, I grew up just beyond McGrath's gaze, on the living room carpet of my family's Southern California home. Judging by the past week's remembrances, his art resembled his life.

But I can't shake the sense that these songs changed him — changed the meaning of Christmas — in an inescapable way. How could a soul stay the same after singing those lines, even just once? Permitting them to work from the inside out, to travel from the heart to the voice, and then to light up the eyes like candles.

This movement, of melody and graceful affirmation, is what makes a classic a classic after nearly 45 years. It's what, I'd like to believe, animated McGrath's own Decembers until this one. I think it might be what keeps the Christmas spirit alive in my doubting grown-up heart as long as the words flood back.

And if that isn't a true-blue miracle, I don't know what one is.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" keeps the magic alive for kids of all ages