Chevy’s Annual Christmas Commercial: an Inspirational Dose of Hope
Tears streamed down my face as I watched this year’s Christmas commercial from Chevy. While scrolling through social media, I saw the warnings to grab Kleenex, but I wasn’t expecting it to hit me like that—the commercial centers around an older woman with Alzheimer’s. The extended family is gathered for Christmas, and a granddaughter takes it upon herself to invest some time in jogging her memory. It works, and as the two drive around their hometown in an old Chevy, just about everyone watching feels the lump in their throats. She does remember, at least for that day, and it’s a beautiful Christmas gift to her family.
I remember my favorite person in the entire world losing her mind and memory to dementia. Looking back on that season without the adrenalin that got us through it is even harder. My dad built an addition to our home so she could hold on to as much independence as possible for as long as possible, but no one can stop time or God’s timing. Grams went to be with the Lord almost twenty years ago, but I can still hear her singing a mix of old crooners and church hymns and feel the wisdom she planted in me long ago still being watered and pruned in my heart.
America has changed a lot over the course of my life. 9/11 removed any sense of security any of us had as Americans. The pandemic isolated us as we never thought possible. We pick up pieces here and there, but it’s hard to focus on gluing them back together during so much chaos, hate, and anger. I often wonder what the Founding Fathers of this country would have to say about a 388% rise in Jewish hate …in a country founded for religious freedom. It all seems so sad and fleeting. It is as if we don’t remember who we are, like the woman in the commercial. But it will take much more than a drive around our hometowns to relieve the toll of everyday life in this world.
The older I get, the more I realize how fast life moves. Both of my husband’s parents have passed, and our daughters are both teenagers. My dad, my best friend on this earth, and my mom live half a country away in retirement mode, well-earned as they should be. But I miss them living down the street. This phase of life feels like one on the way to a scene like I witnessed in this commercial today, and I think a lot of Americans are so burdened by everything that has happened and is happening …moments like this give us ample time to process and release some emotions about how it’s all going.
America, miracles still happen. Freedom still exists. Love and peace have always been possible. But we have forgotten how to access it all. It’s as if we’ve been locked out of our lives, ignoring our roots and denying seeds of wisdom and truth planted inside us. I hope we all experience a tear-filled moment of remembrance this Christmas and can embrace He who has never changed in the midst of all that will never be the same.
Chevrolet means something to me. My grandfather worked for Chevy, and so did my dad. We are a traditional, and some might say, old-fashioned, American family. High school sweethearts, my parents were married when my mom graduated from high school. She was one of five kids; my grandmother served as City Council President for their Cleveland suburb, and my grandfather was a Cleveland City Policeman. On my dad’s side, my grandmother was orphaned during the Great Depression, and her siblings split up to be raised by the family until she lost her brother, who served in the military at a young age, too. She married my grandfather, from a family of Irish immigrants, and had two boys. My parents had three kids, I being the oldest. All grown, married, and raising our children, we now live in different states. “Five Alive,” as we called our family, rarely shares the same space now. A few years ago, my mom was in an accident, and I went to stay with them for a while as she recovered. The unexpected visit gave us a chance to be together, just the three of us, for the first time since I was four. I’ve traveled to spend time with them, just the three of us, every year since.
Time is a fleeting thing. We have to fight for our memories. To make them and to keep them. We’ve all been in family rooms like the one in this commercial. I remember my Grams. She held onto her faith, no matter what else slipped out from under her. It’s no coincidence I can still hear her singing a mix of church hymns and old crooners. There are lessons I am currently applying her sage wisdom and example to. Kneeling in church with her on Saturday nights has lingered longer than the Happy Meals she bribed us with to get us there.
If only we could drive around the hometown of our memories, visit the faithful roots dug in deep, and embrace Christmas fresh this year. Jesus, God …He never changes. He knows what we need long before we need it, like the wisdom of my Grams I still embrace today. Happy endings and full healing don’t always happen. Life isn’t always fair. This world …it hurts. But there are blessings mixed into the sunlight meant specifically, individually, as gifts to our tired souls. In an environment constantly thick with chaos, He is stable, secure, and waiting for us to relax and remember Him. Like the granddaughter in this commercial, let’s pay special attention to the people God places in our lives and exude the extra effort to love them the best we can.
Photo Courtesy: Screenshot/Chevrolet via YouTube/’A Holiday to Remember’/November 28, 2023 @ 9:45 am
Video Courtesy: Chevrolet via YouTube
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