For over a decade, once a year, I transform into a Christmas story narrator. Nearly twenty years now, and I’ve never really shared what it’s like.

This journey has been multifaceted. Once, a customer called just to say she’d be reading the story to her family by the fireplace. Another, as early as September, inquired eagerly about another tale coming up. And then there are those unexpected calls in the scorching summer: “Aren’t you the one who crafts those Christmas stories every year? I’ve always wanted to tell you…” Some graciously thank me but find little charm in the anecdotes. Both responses are part of the experience.

Few know that these are stories within stories. Each year, I envision a man in the office, seated by the window on the final workday, capturing the spirit of the festive season as he types away. While he writes by lamplight and the snow falls outside, he becomes the story— because humans, imbued with and bent by meaning, are tales within tales. The man in the office chases his images, seeking to express the elusive first and last things in life and the invisible thread that binds the beginning to the end.

Christmas is approaching again, and it all begins anew: the quest, the discovery, and the wonderment about what makes us truly human. A new story is coming soon!