Today I’m taking part in the Happy Holiday Blog Hop. There’s something magical about the holidays. As a child I was fortunate that my family spent so much time at the holidays together. It wasn’t about the gifts. It wasn’t even about the food, though there was enough to feed a small army. No, in our family it was about just plain getting together. And get together we did.
Celebrations would start on Christmas Eve where the entire family would gather at my one aunt’s house to eat, talk and watch my uncle’s annual favorite, the yule log. Despite having a beautiful brick fireplace, on Christmas Eve my uncle had that television tuned in to the local network that featured a burning log and non stop Christmas music. I believe it played from five in the evening on Christmas Eve until late evening Christmas Day. To this day I make a point of putting that yule log on even though he is no longer with us. Christmas Day was broken up between two houses. My mother would host the annual Christmas Day breakfast where everyone would show up in pajamas or whatever they wanted. We’d feast on bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, danishes, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Even after my cousin moved to the next county, about forty minutes away, she still came to breakfast dressed in her pajamas lol. Afterwards, everyone would roll home to recuperate from breakfast, open gifts with their immediate family and get dressed for dinner later that evening. Dinner was my aunt’s part of the celebrations. Italian food was the tradition and it included manicotti, lasagna, meatballs, homemade sauce, antipasto and much much more. By the time the day was coming to a close you almost could swear you would never eat like that again. Until next year at least.
As do for most families, things change. We learn to accept the loss of those who have passed on, grapple with children who are grown and have their own family and in-laws clamoring for them, and whatever other changes come with time. Life is not stagnant and change is inevitable. One thing that remains the same though: whoever you call family, wherever you call home, that’s most definitely where the love is during the holidays and and every day.
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and a Healthy and Happy New Year!
If you’d like a chance to win my ebook, A Husband for Danna, please leave a comment below about your own holiday celebrations. I’ll be choosing a winner using random.org and will notify you by email if you win.
For more holiday chat and a chance to win prizes, please stop by these other author blogs during this holiday hop. You can find them at http://sweetbloghops.blogspot.com/.