Growing up with this film

This movie and I entered the world at approximately the same time; I was born Dec. 17, 1954, just a few months after the film was released to usher in the holiday season. I guess that may have given it a special place in my affections. But more than that, my father had been a huge Bing Crosby fan, and he owned an early version of "White Christmas" on record. I don't think it was the original 1942 release, since it was on 45 rather than 78, but it may have been recorded from the original tapes; that's a question for the music historians, I suppose. But regardless, we listened to the song several times each year between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, and it was a staple in our home throughout my childhood. I particularly recall the Christmas I was in seventh grade. I'd stopped believing in Santa Claus several years earlier, but my parents enjoyed going out of their way to prove his existence. That year, the primary item on my gift wishlist was a tape recorder. This was still a time before cassettes became popular, so what I wanted (and received) was a portable reel-to-reel which used three-inch diameter tapes. Before my mom wrapped it, my dad took the microphone and recorded his own Christmas message to me. Bing's "White Christmas", complete with all the scratches it had acquired over the years, played in the background, while Daddy, pretending to be Santa, spoke over the music, telling me how disappointed he was that I no longer believed in him even though he always brought exactly what I wanted, up to and including the fine piece of technology now playing his voice. He hoped maybe I'd change my mind and realize Santa was still a very real being, now that I once again received the gift I'd requested. After he finished the little speech, the volume rose and the rest of "White Christmas" finished playing before my Dad stopped recording and rewound the tape so it would be cued up when I turned on the machine Christmas morning. I still have that tape, and whenever I watch Bing, Danny, Rosemary and Vera perform the song on my "White Christmas" DVD, as I just did this afternoon, I also think of my parents and the wonderful times we had when I was a child. Who knows? Maybe there really IS a Santa Claus.