Right now, someone is reading their new mystery novel. A six-year-old boy is playing with his new action figures. A teenage girl is texting all of her friends from her new iPhone. And everywhere—all over the world—mothers are cleaning up the make-believe clutter in their living rooms. Another Christmas went just as quickly as it came and now people are coming down from their holiday highs. What made Christmas 2016 such a memorable holiday? Let’s take a walk down memory lane:
Snow! Unfortunately, I did not celebrate a white Christmas this year. In York, S.C. (and Charleston, S.C., my home away from home), snow is a rarity. When it snows, it won’t happen until late January/early February. If it snows, we’ll be lucky if we have enough to form a snowball. Snow here in the south is typically wet, dirty slush. People living up north and in the mountains most likely woke up to thin blankets of snow on the ground or snowflakes falling from gray skies. If you experienced any form of snowfall this Christmas, consider Christmas 2016 a magical one!
Presents! Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without presents under the tree. Santa has one job; he can’t forget to do it. I know Christmas isn’t all about presents, but it would be boring to wake up to a Christmas tree with nothing under it. Presents are 95% of the Christmas joy. As kids, my brother and I were always too excited to wait until Christmas Day to open our presents. Our tradition? We got to open one present on Christmas Eve. In the morning, we would wake up to wrapped presents under the tree (from Mom and Dad) and piles of gifts on each side of the living room—one pile for me, one pile for my brother (these piles were dumped by Santa). Of course, the excitement of opening presents has worn off the older we’ve gotten. As kids, we woke up at ungodly hours of the morning and jumped on our parents in their bed. This Christmas we enjoyed those extra few hours of sleep and woke up calmly.
Music and movies! “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” (Elf is the best Christmas movie of all time). If you’re anything like me, you probably started listening to Christmas music in November (and you’ll continue to listen to it until 2017). Something about Christmas music is so damn catchy. We listen to the same songs over and over and over again, yet we can’t stop ourselves from singing them. “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Blue Christmas,” “Silent Night,” etc. etc. When we think Christmas music, we think Michael Bublé. We proudly sing Christmas songs because they give us an air of confidence we didn’t know we had. Like music, Christmas movies are a tradition, too. Families got together to watch their favorite Christmas movies, and ABC Family aired some of the best classics! Did you even celebrate Christmas if you didn’t watch a Christmas movie?
Family! Above all, Christmas was a time for family. Just as they did on Thanksgiving, families got together to celebrate yet another annual holiday. Mornings were spent with immediate family, and afternoons were spent with extended family. Some kids woke up at their mom’s in the morning and went to their dad’s in the afternoon. Other kids, like myself, have only ever spent Christmas in one place. No matter where Christmas happened for you, you were surrounded by family. The people you love were celebrating another holiday with you—and another year with family is the best Christmas gift anyone could ever ask for.
