A special post dedicated to my
mother and sister.
A is for Advent Calendars. They are so much fun to open...especially if they have chocolate in them!B is for Birthday...mine that is. And yes, I DO love having my birthday on Christmas Day. It's the happiest day of the year! Sure most people forget to say happy birthday to me, but I love the fact that its not about me. And I get to see my entire family AND eat all day!
C is for Cookie, or should I say Cookies...my mother makes like 14 different types, and I can't walk past the tray without eating one...or two...or six.
D, E, F is for Decorate Every-Freakin-thing. In my family we have decorations for everything. I have all the obligatory decorations, of course. I also have Christmas china, Christmas mugs and goblets. All of my everyday knick-knacks and most of my picture frames have been replaces with their Christmassy cousins. Even my toilet is wearing it's Christmas best!
G and H are for Gingerbread Houses. This is a relatively new tradition in our family, but it's a great time. We head over to my Mom's for dinner, and each adult takes a kid and decorates a house. Everyone goes home covered in frosting with a tummy-ache.
I is for Infant, as in the Infant Jesus. The reason for the season. We celebrate the birth the man Who would change the world. Even those who do not believe in His divinity cannot deny that His teachings and way of life are inspiring and worth celebrating.
J is for Jingle Bells,the ultimate sound of Christmas.
K is for Kindness. I am humbled by the spirit of giving that dominates all of December and most of November. Food drives, coat drives, giving trees, Secret Santas...it's all so inspiring.
L is for Love. This is what really makes the season so special, surrounding yourself with people who you love.
M is for Mistletoe, after which I was named. XXXXX
N is for Needlepoint Stockings. The ones that would be "hung by the chimney with care" if I had a chimney. (Instead they are hung on the staircase.) All of our stockings are hand made needle-point by my Nanny (my paternal grandmother). She just finished the baby's, and my collection is complete. She turned 87 this year. I cherish them.
O is for Ornaments. I love decorating my tree. As I take out each ornament, I remember when I got each one. Some of them are from my childhood. Some are from former students. Some are my children's. All are special, and I cherish the memories that come flooding back to me as I unwrap each one.
P is for pajamas. Every Christmas eve my mother gives us each two gifts: an ornament that symbolizes the events of the year, and a set of Christmas pajamas....which my neighbors can tell you, I wear all year 'round!
Q is for Quietly sneeking around the house after bedtime, hoping not to wake up the kids. Santa won't come if they're not sleeping.
R is for Reading. Every Christmas eve as a child my mother would read Twas the Night Before Chistmas to my sister and me before bedtime. We would then say a prayer and un-wrap the Baby Jesus. After that we would lay in bed and listen for the jingle of Santa's bells while "visions of sugarplums danced in (our) heads." We still practice this tradition on Christmas eve, except now it's before we head out to mass and our children take our place in our mother's lap.
S is for Singing. Nothing is more timeless than Christmas music, nor is any music more fun to sing. From "Sleighride" to "Santa Baby" it never gets old....until December 26th, that is.
T is for Traditions. There is so much comfort and joy to be found in rituals that families repeat year after year. This is what Christmas is really about. Bringing families closer together, sharing experiences in love.
U is for Un-birthday. December 26. Boxing Day? Maybe, but for me it's my un-birthday. When I married Mr. Jones, it upset him that he would never have me all to himself on my birthday, so we began to celebrate my un-birthday on the 26th. We go out to dinner and spend the day together with our kids.
V is for Visiting Santa. Every year, on the first weekend of December (since I was a baby) we go into Macy's at Herald Square to visit with the real Santa. (He comes in for a week on Thanksgiving and makes a special appearance at Macy's Santaland.) My parents, my sister and her husband and kids, and my family and I go in together. We then take a walk to see "The Tree" and have a nice dinner all together. It is my favorite day of the whole year (maybe even more than Christmas itself).
W is for Winter Solstice. It's no coincidence that Christmas falls during the Winter Solstice. Jesus was most likely born in the spring, but the solstice is the "coming of the light," as the days begin to get longer. The Romans chose to celebrate Jesus' birth at this time because the symbolism of light defeating darkness represents "The Light of the World" defeating the darkness of evil.
X is for X-mas. It used to bother me that people would use this abbreviation because they took Christ out of it. But the more that I think about it, I realize that a lot of non-Christians celebrate the holiday. Not the birth of the Lord, just the spirit of giving. And that's okay! All Jesus ever really wanted was for us to be kind to each other. And the spirit of giving seems to transcend our religious differences.
Y is for my Ya-Ya. (My maternal grandmother) She loved the whole Christmas season. I cherish all of the decorations and ornaments that she either passed on to me, made or bought for me. Especially the snowmen. She LOVED snowmen.
Z is for Zzzzzzzzzzzz. When it's all over, my head hits my tempurpedic pillow it's all Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.
I could go on...I really could. This time of year is just so magical. A lot of people complain about it. They lose sight of what it's all about. Love, Family, Faith, and Kindness. I hope you are all celebrating with your families. As crazy as I'm sure they are, they are yours. Love them and hold on to your memories and traditions. Because in the end, that's all we really have.
Merry Christmas, My Friends!
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