My favorite Christmas song is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. I love this song because it’s about yearning to celebrate the holiday among loved ones and a loving family, even if only in the mind.

Growing up I came from a large and close-knit Italian-American family who all lived near each other in the same little town. We would always spend every holiday together, especially Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we would gather around the Christmas tree and open our gifts together. My parents and I lived in my maternal grandparents’ home because they were elderly and needed care. My parents had many sisters and brothers. They and their children would join us for holiday meals, sitting around the table in the dining room.

My grandfather would sit at one end of the table, serving out the steaming pasta dishes from a gigantic bowl. My father would sit at the other end, pouring the red wine for everyone. On Christmas Day, my relatives, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, would begin arriving at our house in the early morning, bringing with them fresh baked pastries and all kinds of other good treats.

All day long friends and relatives would be coming in and out, laughing and playing music and enjoying each other’s company, while the women gathered in the large kitchen and began preparing the evening meal together. Then we would all sit down again in the evening for a huge roast and more boisterous fun.

Now I live far away from that little town and from all my relatives, most of whom are now gone. I am an old woman and the rest of the family has dispersed all over the country. There are no more holidays spent together with them and I really miss that and I miss them. You can read the following lyrics and it can tell you exactly how I feel. That’s why I think this is my favorite Christmas song.

I’ll Be Home for Christmas Lyrics

I’m dreamin’ tonight of a place I love
Even more then I usually do
And although I know it’s a long road back
I promise you

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
If only in my dreams

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is a Christmas song, written by Buck Ram, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent.

In 1943, this song joined “White Christmas” to become one of America’s most popular holiday songs.