A few years ago my family moved from my childhood home, and ever since the holidays have felt a little different. At first, the differences weren't too profound but things definitely changed. The big Christmas tree we put up didn't show up for two years, our decorations we used to hang up all around the house were hidden in boxes, and we substituted them with a small Christmas tree and a few random decorations. It didn't feel like I was home for the holidays because the things that make a home feel like home were suddenly gone. We still went to family gatherings, we still had Christmas morning, but the magic and memories faded a little bit. We moved a state away in 2017, and those family gatherings happened a little less often.

The thing is once you leave your childhood home the holidays change, but its not always a bad thing. It is still sad that the nostalgia of my childhood kind of went away when we moved, but we started new things for the holidays. For the past two years, my family has celebrated Thanksgiving with just us, which has been a different but welcome experience. We had chicken and ham this year because my mom knew that we probably wouldn't eat turkey leftovers. It was delicious and we had some great conversations about school, OU football, and random stories about my brother and I when we were younger.

The past two years we have gone to Texas to see my mom's side of the family for Christmas, which means my time with those family members seem more important. Seeing some of my little cousins grow from the last time I saw them makes me feel so happy and being a part of their lives gives me more joy than anyone will know even if it is a short amount of time. I also got to see all of my childhood friends and celebrate Christmas with some of my best friends. Overall these changes may have been hard at first but they have made me appreciate the true spirit of the holiday season.