My family had spent Christmas Eve with Mom and my brothers, Billy and Casper. On Christmas Day we stayed home and relaxed. The following day I stopped by to visit Mom with my two daughters in tow.

At ninety years of age, visiting Mom on the family farm sometimes made me feel like I was stepping back in time. This feeling was especially acute during Christmas visits. My two bachelor brothers lived with her in the farmhouse that I had grown up in. When she was no longer able to bake for Christmas, she directed my brothers to make the one favorite spice cookie everyone liked. As in my childhood, the kitchen radio was tuned to a local station from sun-up until it went off the air at sun-down.

After happily greeting Grammie, my teenaged daughters, who had followed me into the living room, sat down on the sofa. Sitting down in a chair closer to Mom, I commented, “You look cozy snuggled in your chair.”

Silver tinsel on the Christmas tree branches glittered in the daylight. Mirror ornaments on the tree reflected nearby balsam branches and other ornaments. Mom sat in her recliner with a small lap-robe covering her lap. Her white hair had tight curls because I’d taken her to have a perm only a few weeks earlier.

Mom requested, “’Would you plug in the tree lights for me?” My movement made the tinsel sway. A draft from the furnace made the mirror ornaments twist and reflect a kaleidoscope of lights.

I asked, “How was your Christmas Day?”

Mom eagerly shared, “It was beautiful and relaxing. Billy played his new Christmas Mannheim Steamroller CD for me after supper. The only lights we had on were the Christmas tree lights. We enjoyed listening to the song ‘Silent Night’ so much, that Billy put it on repeat.”

My brother Billy loved the Mannheim Steamroller orchestra music, so whenever they put out a new album, he bought it. I loved their music, too. Their unique rendition of all the old, familiar Christmas songs was beautiful and made them stand out.

Last month my sister Agnes said, “Mannheim Steamroller will be playing at the Grand Theater in Wausau during December. I sure would like to see them.”

My daughter, Niki, and I looked at each other. The same thought appeared to have occurred to both of us. Tickets for her to attend the theater would make an excellent Christmas gift. Since Billy had instilled an appreciation for Mannheim Steamroller in us as well, we wanted to attend their performance, too.  

For those who don’t know, Mannheim Steamroller is an electronic neoclassical new-age music ensemble formed by a man named Chip Davis in the early 1970’s. In the years since then, he has sold 41 million albums, with 31 million of those being Christmas albums. Chip Davis started out as a percussionist, became a composer, and finally a record producer by forming the American Gramophone label to get his Mannheim Steamroller productions out to the public.

If you are like me, you are probably wondering, why does the group have such a weird name? The answer is as delightfully quirky as the name. The band uses a musical technique developed by Joseph Stamitz in an 18^th century school in Mannheim Germany. Mannheim, Germany also happens to also be the birthplace of Mozart. Stamitz’s technique employs crescendo music which builds and gets louder to excite the audience. People who are familiar with this music are fond of saying the rising melodic line rolls over the crowd and flattens them (like a steamroller).

Mannheim Steamroller has been doing tours for the last 35 years, longer than any other group. Currently, there are two bands doing tours. One is called the red band and the other is the green band.

I’m glad my daughters, sister and I got tickets to their performance. Hearing and seeing Mannheim Steamroller perform was fantastic! I sat in the theater wishing Billy could have been there. I pictured him and Mom on that long ago Christmas night leaning back in their chairs, peacefully listening to ‘Silent Night’ play. All about them was the cozy dark of a warm farmhouse on a winter’s night. The Christmas tree lights softly glowed and the ornaments reflected all that was silver and gold. Since I could picture that night so clearly in my mind, perhaps Mom and Billy really were there with me!