ESSENCE OF CHRISTMAS

Christmas to me is a celebration, which includes spending time with my family, decorating the entire house, inside and out, and shopping, for the people I love. Doing this with the people I love is what means the most to me. It is also a time for Santa to come.

Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at our house. We spend the day baking cookies, preparing a big Christmas dinner together with all our relatives and specially having clingy moments together. I and my mother are always buy candles that will make the house smell festive. We try to change the decorations, which we put out every year. The men finish up just about the same time as, we women and then it is time to decorate the tree together. The children love this the most. Most of the ornaments have been collected over the years and are very old. They have become real family treasures. We all have a favorite one that we each put on the tree. All the children put their First Christmas ornament on the tree that I brought, as a gift. I am not usually a shopper, but during the Christmas season, I actually enjoy shopping. I rarely go into department stores, but during the Christmas season, I love to shop. Some of my relatives love to see each other. They spend the day playing games and sharing their new gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of them. They get so eager to decorate, that it is hard to restrain them. One thing I also think about when people talk about Christmas is Santa. I think about the anticipation of getting gifts. I think about fuzzy brown reindeer flying in the night sky. I think of elves too! Elves are the tiny people who make the things you would get on Christmas.

I feel so fortunate, to have my family throughout the year, but especially, at Christmas time. When showing, my family just how much I love them and what exactly they mean to me. That is so very important to me. Christmas, for me is about being with family, loving each other and showing each other just exactly how we all feel. These are the things I think of when I hear Christmas. This is what Christmas means to me.