What are your favorite holiday memories?

Was there a particular Easter that made you hop for joy? Was there a special Memorial Day or 4th of July celebration that made you greatful to be living in America? And for non-US residents, what other country-specific holiday celebrations do you love to celebrate?

How about Christmas and Hanukkah? What traditions do your family still have over all of the years?



-- Meghan (meghlcl@aol.com), July 02, 2000

Answers

I will contribute a few memories to this cause.

There was one Christmas when I was about six. I remember waking up and being surrounded by neatly wrapped gifts in my bed. Mom was in the doorway of my bedroom holding a Christmas stocking filled with the most delicious treats anyone could have possibly wanted. It took me literally an hour to open the gifts on the bed. I had assumed that the gift-opening stage had been completed for the morning so I sat there and gazed upon the new toys and clothes on the bed and then took most of them back downstairs with me. Much to my surprise, there were more gifts underneath the Christmas tree! Another hour of gift-opening took place and that made for one blissfully happy me.

It was a beautiful Christmas for me in more ways than one. At the age of six, I never realized that the relatives (not my parents, mind you) were all falling apart at the seams. After that year, none of us could all be in the same room because of some personal issues that went on amongst everyone. So a part of me wishes that I could go back to being six so that I could spend one more day with everyone on a holiday like I did back then.

Holidays are to be cherished. Even if you don't like the idea of cooking a huge meal, doing extra shopping and overall work to pull off a successful family outing for a holiday, just be thankful that you have a family to share your joy with.

-- Meghan (meghlcl@aol.com), July 02, 2000.

Living in the country on Christmas morning. I'd wake up to the smell of a fire burning in the fireplace and the smell of french toast being made in the kitchen. Knowing that once I made a journey to the downstairs living room, I would be surrounded by a large room full of loving and caring family members exchanging gifts amongst themselves.

Opening and exchanging gifts. Taking sleigh rides in the snow with my friends. Standing under the mistletoe kissing the woman that I have loved for the past 20 years. Talking to friends and family on the phone on Christmas morning when the snow is softly falling outside of the bay windows in my living room. Feeling as though I am standing next to a relative that I love even though we are an entire country apart.

Christmas makes for the best memories now and forever.

-- Grant (noway@mrluscious.com), July 02, 2000.