What Christmas Means to Me

Christmas for me has been a magical time. Every year around this time a different part of me shows. I get really excited at Thanksgiving time just because I know Christmas is just around the corner. It all started in my childhood. I was introduced to a lot of things during the holidays.

The first thing was the weather. The cold air filling my lungs makes me feel all warm inside. The nippy and bighting wind thrashing itself against my skin; I love that in the early parts of morning. I love the gloomy colors in the sky. I like how the sky is grey at day and purple at night. Then the snow falls for the first time of the holiday season. Every night I pray for five inches of snow.

The next thing was the shopping. When my mom would take me to the mall and all I see is Christmas decorations, I become giddy. My mom always goes to JCPenny to pick up a catalog so my brother and I can pick out what we want for Christmas. I loved going to the Toy stores or toy sections because it was just more fun this time of year. I loved looking at all the cool electronics and all the cool looking boots.

The decorating was fun, too. Dressing the tree in a collaboration of colors, hanging the reef on the door, frosting the windows, illuminating the house, and lining our stomach with the best decorated confectionaries in the world, courtesy of my mother and grandmother. There was no room in our home that was not fashioned with Christmas somethings. That is when we crank the Christmas tunes.

The Christmas Specials were a staple in my Christmastimes. I watched anything relating to Christmas; from Charles M. Schulz to Tex Avery, from Hanna to Barbera, from Harman to Ising, from Marvel to DC, and from Disney to Warner Brothers. I never watched a Christmas Special without a cup of hot chocolate and a treat from Swiss Colony.

I could never sleep on Christmas Eve night. I wanted to see Santa eat the cheddar, cookies, and milk I left for him by the coffee pot. I eventually fall asleep and I missed him. The cookies are gone, the cheese is gone, and all of the coffee is gone. There was half a glass of milk (I thought he used it for his coffee). I wanted to thank him for what he was doing and to see if he was hiring. I learned he wasn't real when I saw a picture of him holding baby Jesus. That is when I learned of Paganism and Christianity and I stopped believing. I slept soundly that night but also broken hearted.

Finally the gifts. I love giving gifts to friends and family. It makes me feel good that I helped them feel good. But I wouldn't be human if I didn't say that I love receiving more than giving. As a child, my Christmas was filled with great gifts. Every year I would open gifts in the morning at my house and in the evening at my grandmother's house. I had two Christmases in my childhood where we had gifts literally piled to the ceiling! One of those Christmases I had got my favorite gift of all: a Beast Wars Optimal Optimus Transformer. Of course as I grew more older my gifts grew more expensive and less numerous. But no other gift has made me feel the way I did as when I got my Transformer. Not even my first car made me feel that delightful.

As I grew older more things grew less, as well. But my feelings remain the same. I try to fill anyone I meet with Christmas cheer. I am going to buy a new Santa hat so I can start doing that for this year. I have learned that Christmas means the most to Children. Christmas was everything to me when I was a kid. I want that feeling to be in my children someday. I advise any parent to make every Christmas a memorable one for their kids. I believe great Christmases make great people.