The real gift of Christmas

Well, Christmas 2023 is now over. Can you believe it?

Truthfully, this one was one of the best for us.

It’s been years since my family actually celebrated with presents. Sure we decorated the house and trimmed the tree but it’s been a long time since we bought gifts for each other. ‘We don’t need anything’. is what we’d tell each other. So Christmas would come and go and it would just feel like another day in December.

When I was younger, Christmas was a huge event. There would be visits from friends and family, parties, laughs, booze for the adults, and eggnog for the kids. Everyone who would come to our house during the holidays would get a pipe-cleaner and they’d have to fashion their name out of it for our Christmas tree. It was a vibrant, fun, and exciting time.

But we’re all older now and it’s just the 3 of us—my father and my mother who are both retired pensioners, and me—a woman approaching 50. So, with every passing year, Christmas brought fewer drop-ins from friends and family, fewer parties, and since we’re all adults—anything we needed we’d just buy ourselves.

My dad mentioned last year that he missed having a real Christmas so, this year, we thought why not and went all out! We didn’t set any dollar-limits, and the last time I saw so many gifts under the tree like that was when I was a kid!

Now, I know that Christmas isn’t about what’s under the tree at all but, as we gathered around our (fake 😉) tree this year, I couldn't help but feel the magic we thought we had outgrown was right there—not at all in the gifts themselves, but in the very act of giving, in the laughter shared, and in the warmth that filled our home. It was a poignant reminder that sometimes, bringing back a bit of the past can brighten our present. We may be older but the spirit of Christmas – the joy, the love, the togetherness – remains ageless.

As mom sipped on her wine, and dad and I on our eggnog (his with Jamaican Rum of course), it was clear: Christmas isn’t just another day in December, it’s a timeless tradition that continues to evolve with us, forever capturing the heart of what it means to be a family.

I hope you all had a happy Christmas this year. 🎄

Me, Christmas 1983.