So good to see you! Welcome to Cookie's Celebratory Compositions Community Voting. Gather around the fireplace and settle into your favorite reading spot to pick your favorite composition from the list below.
All of the nominated entries included in this poll will be given 60 Silver Bells and the top five entries will receive 300 TBT Bells. Our first-place entry will be awarded both the magical Animated Snow Globe Collectible and Gold Trophy Collectible, and our second and third-place entries will receive the Silver Trophy Collectible and Bronze Trophy Collectible respectively.
Now without further ado, enjoy the delicious writing feast!
My mom passed away in January 2020 after a long and difficult illness. I imagine, like last year, this holiday season will trigger pleasant memories and longing my mother. One of those memories, and something I miss, is my mother’s Christmas soup.
The holidays of my youth are of the Hallmark variety – Christmas Eve church service. Opening presents from Santa on Christmas morning, then off to Grandma’s house for more presents, a dining table full of good food and playtime with cousins. Very idyllic. Like an episode of the Waltons. (I know I’m very fortunate.)
All things much change, however, and my brother and I grew into adulthood, and had children of our own. My beloved grandparents passed on, with the aunts, uncles and cousins drifting away to set up their own lives. The silver lining is that my mother took this as an opportunity to start a new tradition, and she made it clear that it would be different. You see, my mother didn’t particularly enjoy cooking and did not like spending her holiday in the kitchen. She announced that she would continue to host a gathering for the family, but that meant soup and sandwiches. The focus, she said, would be on visiting and having fun, with board games at the center of the event. (We’re nuts about board games.)
So, from that time until near her death – a good 20 years or so - the Christmas holiday was a low-key, relaxing day for all. No hurry. No stress. Arrive when you can. Wear your sweatpants if you wish. No need to dress up. No need to cook and clean (much). There was always Holiday music trickling through the house, along with the aroma of homemade vegetable beef soup simmering on the stove. We circled the dining room table, not to eat, but for the board games. Of course we ate, too, but that was while we played.
I am grateful to my mother for many, many things, but something that stands out is her wisdom. My mother knew what was important and tended to focus her energies there. She also knew how to take care of herself. She had no desire to cook for a large group, so she simply said “no“. Also, it’s OK, even a good thing, to start new traditions. Thank you, Mom, for handing down your wisdom along with the recipe for that soup!
All of the nominated entries included in this poll will be given 60 Silver Bells and the top five entries will receive 300 TBT Bells. Our first-place entry will be awarded both the magical Animated Snow Globe Collectible and Gold Trophy Collectible, and our second and third-place entries will receive the Silver Trophy Collectible and Bronze Trophy Collectible respectively.
Now without further ado, enjoy the delicious writing feast!
Christmas is always an exciting time of year for my family. We have many traditions: going to a candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church, choosing one gift to open Christmas Eve before bed, driving to a specific neighborhood to admire the elaborate decorations on every house, watching Rudolph/Frosty/Grinch movies, etc. However, the tradition I'm going to focus on for this event is decorating our tree. Each year, we choose a different theme for our tree. We've had a blue tree, red tree, Pokémon tree, football tree, pretty much anything you could imagine! This tradition is made extra special because we have a fake tree (my cat would eat a real one) so we decorate this same tree year after year.
This year, however, is hard. My mom unfortunately passed away peacefully November ninth after a 3 yearlong battle with stage four metastatic breast cancer. She was pretty much the glue of our family and she always made sure every Christmas was perfect. She even made my own huge stocking from the dress I wore on my very first Christmas and I continue to use it each year! With her passing so close to the holidays, it was very hard for my dad, boyfriend, and I to even muster up the desire to decorate at all. Eventually, we decided to push through the fog of sadness and do it. We decorated the entire house as usual, putting extra special touches on my mom's memorial area (urn, photo...). We did it to spark some joy and mostly because we knew my mom would want us to be happy.
In honor of my mother, we chose to decorate our tree this year in green. Green was my mom's favorite color. Almost every single ornament is green. I even made sure to include our special ornaments such as my Pikachu one. I told my mom that if there is any way for her to come back to see me, to come as a blue bird so I also added 3 blue bird ornaments to the tree. As presents already start to fill the skirt, you might notice some plushies in between from our favorite Christmas movies! My mom always wrapped the presents so beautifully each year, so we tried our best to make them look just as nice. My dad has absolutely no clue how to wrap a gift, so he tried his best by using gift bags!
Though this year is hard, my family chose to make the best of things. As we gaze upon our tree each day, our hearts and minds are flooded with all the happy memories of years past. I'm proud of us for beating grief and continuing our traditions and I feel my mom would be proud of us too. Our tree honors her memory perfectly. I'm so thankful for my family.
Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season to all! I can't wait to see how we decorate next year!
This year, however, is hard. My mom unfortunately passed away peacefully November ninth after a 3 yearlong battle with stage four metastatic breast cancer. She was pretty much the glue of our family and she always made sure every Christmas was perfect. She even made my own huge stocking from the dress I wore on my very first Christmas and I continue to use it each year! With her passing so close to the holidays, it was very hard for my dad, boyfriend, and I to even muster up the desire to decorate at all. Eventually, we decided to push through the fog of sadness and do it. We decorated the entire house as usual, putting extra special touches on my mom's memorial area (urn, photo...). We did it to spark some joy and mostly because we knew my mom would want us to be happy.
In honor of my mother, we chose to decorate our tree this year in green. Green was my mom's favorite color. Almost every single ornament is green. I even made sure to include our special ornaments such as my Pikachu one. I told my mom that if there is any way for her to come back to see me, to come as a blue bird so I also added 3 blue bird ornaments to the tree. As presents already start to fill the skirt, you might notice some plushies in between from our favorite Christmas movies! My mom always wrapped the presents so beautifully each year, so we tried our best to make them look just as nice. My dad has absolutely no clue how to wrap a gift, so he tried his best by using gift bags!
Though this year is hard, my family chose to make the best of things. As we gaze upon our tree each day, our hearts and minds are flooded with all the happy memories of years past. I'm proud of us for beating grief and continuing our traditions and I feel my mom would be proud of us too. Our tree honors her memory perfectly. I'm so thankful for my family.
Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season to all! I can't wait to see how we decorate next year!
I love the holiday season. I’m almost always excited for the many festivities here on the island. Every year, I’d be with my family on a night out to visit Honolulu Hale (our city hall) to view that year’s Christmas light and decorations display, also known as The Honolulu City Lights. I would also join my friends each year to take a leisurely drive through a holiday light show choreographed to Michael Buble’s holiday album (and other holiday music) at the Aloha Stadium. One tradition in particular though, is something I always smile to see pop up on my calendar notifications; Secret Santa.
My close friends and I would hold a Secret Santa exchange. One of us would be managing who would get who and then keep a budget! It wasn’t the fact that we were now secretly shopping for that specific person that I was excited about, but the day we’d all be there exchanging gifts.
You see, the first time we started the group tradition only a handful of us participated. My boyfriend and I decided that we’d get them onesies and not just the obligatory Secret Santa gift. We attended our friend’s Christmas Party with gifts in tow, drinking root beer, cooking barbecue, and ready to play some Jackbox games. When we finally did the exchange and opened all the presents, it was no surprise they loved their new pajamas. Suddenly there’s 5 of us in onesies laughing our butts off for the rest of the night. It was a surprise however, that it kickstarted a significant and memorable part of the Secret Santas to come.
For the past several years we would always have a snorlax, Perry the platypus, a panda, Rillakuma, and Pusheen the Cat attending our Christmas Party of friends. Over the course of the years we bought more onesies for more friends who participated. We would all be drinking Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Root Beer as per tradition, cook barbecue short ribs and hotdogs, and be absolutely comfy in our oversized pajamas. As of writing this, my friends will be visiting tomorrow to exchange gifts again this year.. In their onesies.
My close friends and I would hold a Secret Santa exchange. One of us would be managing who would get who and then keep a budget! It wasn’t the fact that we were now secretly shopping for that specific person that I was excited about, but the day we’d all be there exchanging gifts.
You see, the first time we started the group tradition only a handful of us participated. My boyfriend and I decided that we’d get them onesies and not just the obligatory Secret Santa gift. We attended our friend’s Christmas Party with gifts in tow, drinking root beer, cooking barbecue, and ready to play some Jackbox games. When we finally did the exchange and opened all the presents, it was no surprise they loved their new pajamas. Suddenly there’s 5 of us in onesies laughing our butts off for the rest of the night. It was a surprise however, that it kickstarted a significant and memorable part of the Secret Santas to come.
For the past several years we would always have a snorlax, Perry the platypus, a panda, Rillakuma, and Pusheen the Cat attending our Christmas Party of friends. Over the course of the years we bought more onesies for more friends who participated. We would all be drinking Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Root Beer as per tradition, cook barbecue short ribs and hotdogs, and be absolutely comfy in our oversized pajamas. As of writing this, my friends will be visiting tomorrow to exchange gifts again this year.. In their onesies.
So I'm going to talk about a tradition from my country: Posadas. I'm from a very catholic country, so even if you're atheist or your family isn't really that much into religion, you will go to several posadas in in your life. Posada season starts on december 12 all the way to the 23rd. Posada means lodging in spanish, and this tradition comes from when Joseph and Mary were looking for a place to stay the night prior to her delivery. The main event of the posada is when the party divides into two: the hosts and the guests. The guests walk up and down the street holding candles and chanting songs (we even have little booklets with all the songs in them) and they eventually arrive at the home, where they knock on the door and through a song, they request lodging for Joseph and Mary, and the hosts try to send them away (all in singing) three times. The hosts eventually give in and invite everyone in, warning them they only have a barn available. And then the party begins!
You know piñatas? they were originally used for posadas, and the traditional star piñatas have 7 spikes, one for each capital sin, so when you hit them, you are actually getting rid of the sins! They are usually made of clay and instead of having candy inside, there's seasonal fruit like clementines, guayabas, tejocotes, and peanuts. There's also punch and a lot of singing and dancing.
For teenagers and young adults posadas are really an excuse to throw a party and get wasted, but family events tend to be more traditional. I haven't been to one for several years, even before covid started, and confinement has really made me value traditions like this. I feel like crying as I write this. Situations like this really puts things in perspective, I definitely won't miss the next posada I'm invited to!
Pic related: I tried to illustrate the moment when hosts and guests have the singing session so that they can be allowed inside
You know piñatas? they were originally used for posadas, and the traditional star piñatas have 7 spikes, one for each capital sin, so when you hit them, you are actually getting rid of the sins! They are usually made of clay and instead of having candy inside, there's seasonal fruit like clementines, guayabas, tejocotes, and peanuts. There's also punch and a lot of singing and dancing.
For teenagers and young adults posadas are really an excuse to throw a party and get wasted, but family events tend to be more traditional. I haven't been to one for several years, even before covid started, and confinement has really made me value traditions like this. I feel like crying as I write this. Situations like this really puts things in perspective, I definitely won't miss the next posada I'm invited to!
Pic related: I tried to illustrate the moment when hosts and guests have the singing session so that they can be allowed inside
In my family, Christmas has been celebrated the same way every year ever since I can remember. We have so many traditions, telling them all would far exceed the word limit. So instead of going over all the old traditions, I feel like talking about something relatively new my family has been doing.
A few years ago, a random picture popped up while I was scrolling through pinterest. Gifts, wrapped in newspapers instead of colourful wrapping paper. I quite liked the idea of giving up wrapping paper, since we anyways receive newspapers (involuntarily - mostly just ads we can’t do anything about) and I always disliked throwing out ripped and crumpled wrapping paper that served no other purpose. I explained the idea to my spouse, and we made the switch. My family was a little confused at first, but to my surprise, everyone else in my family liked the idea too and has started doing the same. The tradition has since evolved further. In order to make the gifts look more festive (rather than plain newspaper print), we go through old newspapers looking for cute illustrations and pictures and cut them out (after the paper has been read). We wrap the gifts in newspaper and then stick on the cute cutout illustrations. It makes every present look much more thoughtful and personal and I like taking some time in picking illustrations and decorating the wrapping.
Some critics might think it’s stupid to manually stick on illustrations when nice wrapping paper covered in illustrations already exists, but to us, it’s a small attempt at repurposing something that’s already there instead of buying and throwing out something new. The colourful string and bows we use as decorations in addition are being saved and reused as well - no worries
the leftover bunched up newspapers from the gifts then are used whenever we light our fireplace, so we ultimately use newspapers for three different things until their "life circle" end. 
Swapping out wrapping paper for material we receive anyways might be a small contribution to reducing our carbon footprint, but every small gesture is worth it in my opinion. (Where I live there is no way of not receiving that one particular newspaper that we didn't sign up for - in case people are confused).
A few years ago, a random picture popped up while I was scrolling through pinterest. Gifts, wrapped in newspapers instead of colourful wrapping paper. I quite liked the idea of giving up wrapping paper, since we anyways receive newspapers (involuntarily - mostly just ads we can’t do anything about) and I always disliked throwing out ripped and crumpled wrapping paper that served no other purpose. I explained the idea to my spouse, and we made the switch. My family was a little confused at first, but to my surprise, everyone else in my family liked the idea too and has started doing the same. The tradition has since evolved further. In order to make the gifts look more festive (rather than plain newspaper print), we go through old newspapers looking for cute illustrations and pictures and cut them out (after the paper has been read). We wrap the gifts in newspaper and then stick on the cute cutout illustrations. It makes every present look much more thoughtful and personal and I like taking some time in picking illustrations and decorating the wrapping.
Some critics might think it’s stupid to manually stick on illustrations when nice wrapping paper covered in illustrations already exists, but to us, it’s a small attempt at repurposing something that’s already there instead of buying and throwing out something new. The colourful string and bows we use as decorations in addition are being saved and reused as well - no worries
the leftover bunched up newspapers from the gifts then are used whenever we light our fireplace, so we ultimately use newspapers for three different things until their "life circle" end. Swapping out wrapping paper for material we receive anyways might be a small contribution to reducing our carbon footprint, but every small gesture is worth it in my opinion. (Where I live there is no way of not receiving that one particular newspaper that we didn't sign up for - in case people are confused).
Christmas was never about parties or having an extravagant feast for me. I am working as a home-based graphic artist for many years, so my social circle has always been very small and limited to the communities I've joined online. But that doesn't mean it's any less fun than actual large gatherings.
Even if it's just me and my immediate family, I find happiness in buying groceries for all the ingredients we will need for our simple holiday dinner. I find excitement thinking about how they would react to the presents I've bought for them. I find satisfaction knowing that I wrapped those gifts without messing up. And I know I will find contentment in receiving even just a bag of salted-egg potato chips for Christmas, because I believe it's the thought that matters.
Aside from prepping food, I usually spend the rest of the day just watching videos on YouTube or just laughing my time away at memes. If I'm in the mood, I would draw and post holiday-themed artwork on social media to greet my online friends (and followers). Or play the day away to catch up with my ever-growing videogame backlog. I also throw in an hour of workout to burn the calories and make space for all the yummy carbs.
My Christmas doesn't really seem all that interesting since it's not that different from my usual daily routine. But knowing that I have a safe home and a loving family is enough to keep the spirit of the holidays within me.
Even if it's just me and my immediate family, I find happiness in buying groceries for all the ingredients we will need for our simple holiday dinner. I find excitement thinking about how they would react to the presents I've bought for them. I find satisfaction knowing that I wrapped those gifts without messing up. And I know I will find contentment in receiving even just a bag of salted-egg potato chips for Christmas, because I believe it's the thought that matters.
Aside from prepping food, I usually spend the rest of the day just watching videos on YouTube or just laughing my time away at memes. If I'm in the mood, I would draw and post holiday-themed artwork on social media to greet my online friends (and followers). Or play the day away to catch up with my ever-growing videogame backlog. I also throw in an hour of workout to burn the calories and make space for all the yummy carbs.
My Christmas doesn't really seem all that interesting since it's not that different from my usual daily routine. But knowing that I have a safe home and a loving family is enough to keep the spirit of the holidays within me.
Well, my family starts Christmas off the same way each year: by putting up the tree. This has to go up NO EARLIER and NO LATER than the closest weekend to the 12th of December as decreed by my Grandma eons ago, so safe to say its always a bit of a palaver to find the best tree in a one-day timeframe. It’s the tradition I enjoy the most though – back when I was a kid, it was the task of my Grandad and I to find The Tree. We would hunt through rows and rows of spruce at the garden center, pointing and laughing at the little three-footers that came pre-potted. We needed something bigger, something grander, befitting the privilege of the spot in front of the window. So we would continue the hunt, and once we got to that 6ft and over pile, it was OVER. My grandad was a big guy, so he would go wading through the ocean of needles to try and pick out an appropriately girthy tree – thick at the bottom, but sparser as it gets to the top – rather than let little 6 year old me try to haul a tree double my size. We would always be complimented by the family when we got home on what a wonderful tree it was, how thick with branches, how vibrant the needles – even if it had a massive bald patch on the back that (hopefully) no one could see.
Since my grandad passed, I have the privilege of being the sole Tree Selector. I’m a lot older now, and most importantly grown, so there’s no worry of me being crushed by a tree now as there was when I was 6. I still slink through the rows of trees, looking at the little 3ft devils thinking “they would look nice planted in the back garden”. Now it’s me who gets to wade through the waves of spruce, and I alone select the one worthy tree from the masses.
When I get home it’s business as usual – haul the tree off of the car, shouts of “mind the walls! The walls!” as it is unceremoniously dragged through the front door, the struggle to get it in the tree stand that seems older than time itself, but when the webbing is off – when it is truly and properly displayed in its full glory – its such a wonderful moment. We decorate it as best we can, adorning it with baubles and tinsels and those little garland strings that never seem to untangle themselves. And every year, we top it with the most important decoration of all - a star of my Grandad. It’s not a flashy Christmas, or even a particularly expensive one, but it’s ours – and in the end, when we’re all sat around laughing and being together on Christmas Day, that’s all that matters.
Since my grandad passed, I have the privilege of being the sole Tree Selector. I’m a lot older now, and most importantly grown, so there’s no worry of me being crushed by a tree now as there was when I was 6. I still slink through the rows of trees, looking at the little 3ft devils thinking “they would look nice planted in the back garden”. Now it’s me who gets to wade through the waves of spruce, and I alone select the one worthy tree from the masses.
When I get home it’s business as usual – haul the tree off of the car, shouts of “mind the walls! The walls!” as it is unceremoniously dragged through the front door, the struggle to get it in the tree stand that seems older than time itself, but when the webbing is off – when it is truly and properly displayed in its full glory – its such a wonderful moment. We decorate it as best we can, adorning it with baubles and tinsels and those little garland strings that never seem to untangle themselves. And every year, we top it with the most important decoration of all - a star of my Grandad. It’s not a flashy Christmas, or even a particularly expensive one, but it’s ours – and in the end, when we’re all sat around laughing and being together on Christmas Day, that’s all that matters.
Every year for as long as I can remember my mom has hidden a pickle in our Christmas tree. It isn't a real pickle it's an ornament meant to look like a pickle. When I was little I thought everyone did this and was horrified when, at age twelve, I found out that not everyone had a pickle in their Christmas tree. So I then accepted that this was just something only my family did. But recently I did some research and the Christmas pickle is actually a somewhat popular tradition. Some seem to think that it's an old German tradition but others argue that it never originated in Germany at all. I don't have any idea either. My family is not German and I've asked my oldest living relatives about who in the family started the tradition and they don't know.
Whatever the reason for our strange tradition I'm very excited for Christmas morning when we will rush to the Christmas tree and look for the pickle. And when someone finds the pickle they will get an extra present. Even though our family has changed and circumstances have led to us being unable to visit family for the holidays, the Christmas pickle will always be here. I'm way too old to still participate in looking for the pickle but my mom always hides it and I still always look for it. It makes me feel the magic of Christmas. I love everything about the holiday season from the songs, the food, and the snow but the little things are what counts. The pickle is just a weird thing my mom has always done but even though it's a small part of my Christmas it's still very special to me.
Whatever the reason for our strange tradition I'm very excited for Christmas morning when we will rush to the Christmas tree and look for the pickle. And when someone finds the pickle they will get an extra present. Even though our family has changed and circumstances have led to us being unable to visit family for the holidays, the Christmas pickle will always be here. I'm way too old to still participate in looking for the pickle but my mom always hides it and I still always look for it. It makes me feel the magic of Christmas. I love everything about the holiday season from the songs, the food, and the snow but the little things are what counts. The pickle is just a weird thing my mom has always done but even though it's a small part of my Christmas it's still very special to me.
Christmas changed a lot over the years. When I was little, we used to visit my grandparents in the countryside, with all our relatives, in a very cramped and overheated house. According to our traditions, Christmas starts on the 24th evening. We always had a buffet with a lot of food, had fun playing games, we were exchanging our presents at midnight and then, partying all night. The adults were dancing and drinking and the children were playing outdoor, ice skating, and sledding in the middle of the night under the northern lights. We stayed up until the sun rose.
However, times changed, and now it’s just our little family staying at home and not doing much apart from eating cheese and cured salmon. I’m the only one who is still staying up all night, watching special music shows while eating panettone in the early Christmas morning, but there is one thing that has never changed; my mom turning into a ‘Christmaszilla’ every year. When I was little, it was literally hell, from the tree to the food, the gifts, the clothes, everything had to be perfect and from my memory, she was just stressing and screaming at us until we arrived at my grandparents' house. I thought that she would have changed over the years, now that she has less pressure, a whole month to decorate with an artificial tree, food prepared in advance, no more presents, and us staying in pajamas, but NO…. She’s still a ‘Christmaszilla’ stressing over everything and losing it if we touch one decoration, and I’m not even talking about the cats... So toannoy her make her smile, we started messing with the decorations. One year, we replaced the nativity scene with dinosaurs; another year, we put baby Yoda in place of baby Jesus; last year, I added Harvey’s house (my TBT’s ornament) in the village and this year, I decided to 'decorate' a wooden owl I found in the basement, that nobody knows where it came from, with discarded ornaments, especially the blue ones, that she dislikes. At first, she said nothing, she looked exasperated, and then: “Where did you plan to put that?” She didn’t let me keep it in the living room, but I could tell she was vaguely amused. (She even kept a photo).
However, times changed, and now it’s just our little family staying at home and not doing much apart from eating cheese and cured salmon. I’m the only one who is still staying up all night, watching special music shows while eating panettone in the early Christmas morning, but there is one thing that has never changed; my mom turning into a ‘Christmaszilla’ every year. When I was little, it was literally hell, from the tree to the food, the gifts, the clothes, everything had to be perfect and from my memory, she was just stressing and screaming at us until we arrived at my grandparents' house. I thought that she would have changed over the years, now that she has less pressure, a whole month to decorate with an artificial tree, food prepared in advance, no more presents, and us staying in pajamas, but NO…. She’s still a ‘Christmaszilla’ stressing over everything and losing it if we touch one decoration, and I’m not even talking about the cats... So to
This is probably going to sound morbid to most people...
My dad (aka Pap or Pappy) absolutely loved Christmas, because it was one of the only days of the year he got to spend with his entire family (there were 7 of us kids in total.) Everyone had high spirits, the jokes were flying, it was a great time.
In 2010 he became ill. Around the end of November of that year, he kept asking me to go out and get a Christmas tree. I told him it was far too early to get one. He kept on me day after day, night after night..."Just go grab a Christmas tree.", "Did you get a tree yet?", "When are you grabbing the tree?". So I finally broke and went and got a Christmas tree, and set it up in his man cave which is typically where we always put it. I then went and helped him down the stairs (he could no longer navigate them alone) and lit the tree for him...and he was ecstatic! After gazing at the tree for a couple minutes he suggested we watch a movie while we're down there, so I helped him into his La-Z-Boy, grabbed him some popcorn that he loved, and we watched a movie.
That was unfortunately the last thing we did together.
He passed away on December 2nd, and only reflecting on the situation afterwards did I realize that he was bugging me to get the Christmas tree because he probably knew he wasn't going to make it to Christmas.
Now, every December 2nd, I go out and get a tree and decorate it. I then get his ashes out (when he passed all of his children received pendants containing some) and set them in his chair. I then pop a bowl of popcorn, put a small bowl on his side table for him, and watch a movie he liked.
My dad (aka Pap or Pappy) absolutely loved Christmas, because it was one of the only days of the year he got to spend with his entire family (there were 7 of us kids in total.) Everyone had high spirits, the jokes were flying, it was a great time.
In 2010 he became ill. Around the end of November of that year, he kept asking me to go out and get a Christmas tree. I told him it was far too early to get one. He kept on me day after day, night after night..."Just go grab a Christmas tree.", "Did you get a tree yet?", "When are you grabbing the tree?". So I finally broke and went and got a Christmas tree, and set it up in his man cave which is typically where we always put it. I then went and helped him down the stairs (he could no longer navigate them alone) and lit the tree for him...and he was ecstatic! After gazing at the tree for a couple minutes he suggested we watch a movie while we're down there, so I helped him into his La-Z-Boy, grabbed him some popcorn that he loved, and we watched a movie.
That was unfortunately the last thing we did together.
He passed away on December 2nd, and only reflecting on the situation afterwards did I realize that he was bugging me to get the Christmas tree because he probably knew he wasn't going to make it to Christmas.
Now, every December 2nd, I go out and get a tree and decorate it. I then get his ashes out (when he passed all of his children received pendants containing some) and set them in his chair. I then pop a bowl of popcorn, put a small bowl on his side table for him, and watch a movie he liked.
Christmas Soup
My mom passed away in January 2020 after a long and difficult illness. I imagine, like last year, this holiday season will trigger pleasant memories and longing my mother. One of those memories, and something I miss, is my mother’s Christmas soup.
The holidays of my youth are of the Hallmark variety – Christmas Eve church service. Opening presents from Santa on Christmas morning, then off to Grandma’s house for more presents, a dining table full of good food and playtime with cousins. Very idyllic. Like an episode of the Waltons. (I know I’m very fortunate.)
All things much change, however, and my brother and I grew into adulthood, and had children of our own. My beloved grandparents passed on, with the aunts, uncles and cousins drifting away to set up their own lives. The silver lining is that my mother took this as an opportunity to start a new tradition, and she made it clear that it would be different. You see, my mother didn’t particularly enjoy cooking and did not like spending her holiday in the kitchen. She announced that she would continue to host a gathering for the family, but that meant soup and sandwiches. The focus, she said, would be on visiting and having fun, with board games at the center of the event. (We’re nuts about board games.)
So, from that time until near her death – a good 20 years or so - the Christmas holiday was a low-key, relaxing day for all. No hurry. No stress. Arrive when you can. Wear your sweatpants if you wish. No need to dress up. No need to cook and clean (much). There was always Holiday music trickling through the house, along with the aroma of homemade vegetable beef soup simmering on the stove. We circled the dining room table, not to eat, but for the board games. Of course we ate, too, but that was while we played.
I am grateful to my mother for many, many things, but something that stands out is her wisdom. My mother knew what was important and tended to focus her energies there. She also knew how to take care of herself. She had no desire to cook for a large group, so she simply said “no“. Also, it’s OK, even a good thing, to start new traditions. Thank you, Mom, for handing down your wisdom along with the recipe for that soup!
), I had to go with #3. I have lived in many places around the world, and loved the different traditions I've seen, but I had never heard of posadas! Sounds like amazing holiday fun!
