My favorite part of Christmas has always been family gatherings. The bigger the gathering, the better in my book. I think this stems from the fact that Christmas was a huge affair when I was little.
We spent Christmas with my dad’s family. He’s one of five children, so holidays at my grandmother’s house were loud; full of love, laughter and food. (And I’ll never figure out how she managed to cook all of that food in her tiny kitchen.)
Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve. After a delicious fish dinner prepared by my grandmother, the whole family piled into the living-room to exchange gifts. (My gifts usually involved the two most important “B’s” in my little girl life: Barbies and Books.) Then we’d head home where my parents probably had a heck of a time getting my sister and I tucked into bed.
Christmas day brought gifts from Santa (and occasionally, Rudolph) and a morning of church. Then, back to grandma’s for what can only be described as a feast: Soups, salads, pasta, meat, veggies, cookies, pies and cool whip.
Then the family spent the rest of the day there playing, napping, eating again, watching t.v. and just enjoying being together.
When I think of Christmas, these memories of family gatherings are what come to mind first. When I first moved away from Rhode Island, I missed those gatherings terribly. But I started creating other, new memories in my new home. And now that I have kids, I get to help them create great memories of Family and Christmas.
Feel free to share your favorite Christmas (or the holiday of your religion) memories!