T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Every creature was stirring, even the mouse.
Don't worry, I'm not going to launch into a rewrite of the famous, Night Before Christmas. Although, that seems to be a popular thing for writers to put their own spins on during the holiday season. I have to admit, I did think of giving into temptation and rewriting it as well, but that's not really what I felt like I should write about. Instead of rewriting the ever popular poem, I'm just going to tell you about my Christmas.
Christmas has always been a big thing for my family. Every year my dad makes sure to inform the household that the tree doesn't go up until the day after Thanksgiving...and every year he gets ignored. Actually in truth, he was listened to until my siblings and I discovered that we have the ability to pull out the Christmas decorations ourselves. By that point, my dad didn't want to pull out the boxes and began saying, "I guess we can put it up today -Thanksgiving -but you kids have to get all the boxes out." It is always done. Seriously, it never fails. The tree is always up by Thanksgiving night.
The decorating of the tree marks the beginning of the Christmas season. After that everything Christmas attacks the house. Christmas music, Christmas cookies, snow, hot chocolate, Christmas movies, prayers for snow days...etc...etc...the list goes on and on. Yet, it is not the onslaught of theses things, nor the tree, nor the gifts, that makes Christmas important for me. There is something that occurs every year possible that is the reason I look forward to Christmas...and that's the annual gathering of my family on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Eve, if possible, my family -on my mom's side -meets up at my Grandma's home. This is a tradition that has been going on since before I was born. When I was a little brat, the gathering was rather small. It was my parents, my two aunts, my two uncles, my grandparents, my two cousins, and then my sister and myself. Now though, our family has grown. It has gone from twelve attendants eighteen.
This year everyone was able tot attend the gathering, I must say it was one of the best ones yet. Christmas is one of the tender times in my life and I'm sure it's safe to say it's the same for my oldest cousin. She and I are roughly four months apart and this holiday will always be near to our hearts. Our grandpa made Christmas.
There are no words that I could use that could accurately describe how wonderful of a man our grandpa was. He is the reason that Megan -my cousin -and I consider Christmas to be one of the most precious holidays.
There are many things I could go into detail about when it comes to why this Christmas was so great, but allow me to tell them to you in a list. Here are some of the reasons I love Christmas Eve and my family:
1. A Walk Down Memory Lane:
This year we did something new. We took out a bunch of old home videos of past Christmases and watched them. It was both entertaining and tearful, as my grandpa is no longer with us and I couldn't help but remember all the good times I had with him when I was little.
2. My Uncles:
My uncles are characters. When they are around there is never a dull moment.
3. My Cousins:
I have a lot more cousins now then I did back when I was there ages -think 11 and under here -and each and everyone of them have such unique personalities. This contributes to the next thing...
4. Blending of Personalities:
It was interesting to watch my family this year. Why? Because we are all different ,there's no doubt about that, and it was fun to watch all of our personalities interact.
Sigh...my words seem to be failing me at the moment. I wanted to tell you how wonderful my Christmas Eve and Christmas was, but I seem to be unable to find the desired words. The only word I can think of to describe it is awesome.
And when I use 'awesome', I really mean Awe Some. It was two days full of awing moments. From looking around at my younger cousins and thinking, "That use to be us,"...to watching home videos of our parents when they were our age and thinking, "That could be us,"...to looking around at my uncles, aunts, and parents and thinking, "That will be us,"...to the beautiful morning that was my Christmas day where my immediate family gathered around the tree...to the current moments of us all doing our own things but still enjoying the other's company. There has been no rush theses past two days. No worry has entered my mind. All I've cared about, all my family has seemed to care about, is spending time with each other. And that, my friends, has been Awe Some.
There is truly no greater gift on earth than time well spent with family. I love each and every one of them and, if any of them are reading this, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being part of my family. I love you all and will cherish all of the memories I have of all of you.
Merry Christmas, everyone. If you haven't found time for some holiday Cheer yet, there's still a few hours left in the day (At least there is where I reside) and I encourage you to do so. Don't let this Christmas pass by.
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