With the holiday season already in full swing, I can’t help but be excited for it to be Christmas. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always loved Christmas. For me, a big part of Christmas is watching ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas,” The Polar Express, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and even Olive the Other Reindeer. In addition to the movies that would be on TV; endless cups of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, candy canes, made-from-scratch sugar cookies, and Christmas lights were always part of what made the holiday season my absolute favorite!
I remember going to the nursing home during Christmas time when I was in elementary school, and visiting with the patients there and singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “Deck the Halls,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” and other holiday themed songs. It was always a very happy time for the kids that went, and for the patients. It seemed like having kids around, especially in the holiday season, helped improve their spirits.
Another part of the Christmas season that I loved growing up was when my mom and dad would take my older brothers and I riding around in our minivan to look at the Christmas lights on houses. I can’t explain the kind of magic you feel when you’re bundled up in blankets and those big puffy coats while you listen to Christmas music and ride around with your family to look at Christmas lights. It is an outstanding experience and a memory from my childhood that I hold very close to my heart.
In addition to spending time with my parents and brothers, Christmas has always been a good time to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My dad is the youngest child of eight, between my parents and all of my aunts and uncles, there are fourteen grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren – with one on the way! A family that large, as you can imagine, doesn’t have many chances to get everybody under the same roof. Because of our annual family Christmas party, which was started by our late-Grandmother, we all get to see each other at least once a year and that helps us remember how much love there is in our large, sometimes silly, family.
Every Christmas morning for the last five or six years, I’ve been getting up before everyone else and making breakfast for my family. I started doing this partly because- even at age 15 – I was too excited about Christmas morning to sleep much past 6 AM. So I’ve started waking up, turning on the television in the living room to A Christmas Story with the volume up so I could hear it in the kitchen while I made breakfast. Then my mom and dad would be up and, once the food was ready, I’d go down the hall and try to convince my brothers to get out of bed. After everyone was awake and ready, we’d start opening presents and being able to spend that time together is something I look forward to doing.
I think, for me, Christmas has always been so special because I’ve always felt a tremendous amount of love in the air. No matter where I go during the Christmas season, it seems like everybody is nicer than they typically are throughout the year. The holidays are traditionally a time for giving to others, with that mindset, I feel that people are more empathetic and more willing to help a complete and total stranger during the holidays than just any other day of the year. In regions where snow is prevalent, complete strangers have been reported helping people when they get into an accident or become stuck in the snow. During the Christmas season, The Salvation Army rings bells outside of stores to collect donations that go to help individuals that are in need in the community. Between toy drives and Christmas gift donations to nursing homes, how could Christmas not be everybody’s favorite holiday? I cannot think of any other time of the year that is filled with so much love and generosity. That is why I love Christmas.