Share some of your favorite Christmas memories

[reveal]

At Christmas, I always take time to look back and bring up fond memories of Christmases past.

1) Christmases in the Philippines. They were always hot and the air conditioner was always on. But it was just my parents and I with all are other relatives thousands of miles away. It was cozy and I loved it.

2) Christmases with my grandma. My grandma passed away about 5 years ago, but most of my childhood December 25th's were spent waking up to her smile.

3) Christmas 1997. My wife and I married in 1996, but that Christmas was spent meeting all of my relatives. 1997 was the first Christmas we spent alone together.

4) Christmas 2004. My son was almost 3 and finally "got" Christmas for the first time.

5) Christmas 2005. This year will be even better because he's to the point where he's waiting for Santa and is as excited as I am.

What are yours?

 

[PirateMary]

My Christmas memories are less specific.
I always think of celebrating with my mom's side. My grandparent's had a large house and all the family would gather there. The real tree always had more tinsel than ornaments. As we got older, they switched to a fake tree. Didn't take away from the holiday, just couldn't put as much tinsel on.
My son, who has learning disabilities, still doesn't get the whole idea but I treasure the holiday just the same.

 

[Belen]

I do not really have a lot of xmas memories.

The one that is most clear was the time my little brother and I (10 and 7) woke up at like 2am, went downstairs and turned on the TV and waited for our parents to wake up. We finally went and got them around 5am....

 

[Jesus_marley]

my best Christmas memory is when I was a child in 1984.

We had just moved from one side of the country to the other that summer and we were all feeling homesick. We were living in Victoria B.C. it was December 24th and it had yet to snow at all. This would have been the first Christmas in my lifetime that didn't have snow. I know it doesn't mean much to most people, but combined with all the other little things, a lack of snow at Christmas was a very depressing thought.
I can't remember where the idea came from but that nightme, my brother and my parents all grabbed a shovel, climbed into the truck and drove over to the local skating rink. We then filled the back of the truck with snow and ice from the pile that the zamboni leaves behind. we then drove back to the house and shovelled it all out onto the front lawn.
One of The things I remember best about that night were all of the cars that slowed down to get a better look at us doing something so out of the ordinary.
The best thing about the whole experience was that although there was no snow, it was still cold enough that the snow we put down was still there in the morning. We were the only family in Victoria B.C. that year that had a white Christmas.

 

[Acquana]

I have so many memories of Christmases I love so it's hard to pick.

But instead I'll just say my favorite part of my Christmas memories was my mom's tree. She's been collecting ornaments since the mid 70's, and has one signifying nearly every major event and vacation we've been one. We have ones for each of our pets, from places we've been, of our favorite things (gotta love the pop culture ones in stores now), and ones that represent members of our family. Our dining room table can fit about 8-10 people, but around this time of December I know that right now it's covered--every square inch--with the ornaments my mom will have laid out before she puts up the tree. Er, trees. I think she's up to three now.

So right now I have a six foot tree, and my own collection is growing. Most of them are minature ornaments ... but already it looks like next year I'll have to get a tiny one for at least some of the minature ornaments.

I see a lot of fond memories to come.

 

[KenM]

Xmas 1993, my stepdad had a fatal heart attack the day before and He would not be verbally or mentally abusing me anymore. Best day of my life.

 

[Henry]

My early Christmas memories are all swirled together in one big blizzard of toys and presents and time with family -- something I thank my parents dearly for, posthumously.

My adult memories of Christmas are much clearer:

--Going to the in-laws' house for presents, laughing, and cutting up.
--Time spent with the wife's grandparents before they passed on just one month later.
--one SPECTACULAR holiday blow-up with said wife and in-laws over something trivial.
--Taking all my friends and gaming group to see Lord of the Rings as my Christmas gift to them for three years running - that was truly spectacular.

Very few bad ones, I'm fortunate to say.

 

[Xath]

Every Christmas has been the same routine since before I can remember.

First, I wake up at my parents' house and we open presents and have breakfast. In recent years, I've been woken up my my sister at obscenely early hours of the morning (like 8am!) so that she can open her presents.

At 1 o'clock, we all get into the car and go to my maternal grandparent's house. My Dad's side of the family is Jewish, so we don't have to worry about splitting up holidays between them. The whole family comes down every year, and we have lunch, open presents, have dinner and hang out. When I was little, it was my grandparents, 7 children, one spouse, and 5 grandchildren. Now, it is my Grandmother, 7 children, 7 spouses, 15 grandchildren (+1 on the way). The house gets crowded and hot, but it's a really nice time every year.

I remember one christmas, my dad dipped a pair of boots in flour and made footprints on the carpet, so that I would think that Santa had come.

 

[eabha]

Christmas 1978 my family awoke to complete darkness as our entire neighbourhood was blacked out. We had to open our gifts by candlelight. Rather than tear everything open as quickly as possible, as was our custom, we had to slow down and do things in turn so as not to miss or lose anything among the discarded wrappings and such. Thus began our current tradition of opening gifts, one by one, in a circle.

My father passed away suddenly a month later, which may make the memory of the candlelight Christmas a little more special.

 

[Rel]

We were the only family in Victoria B.C. that year that had a white Christmas.

THAT is cool! I'll bet the neighbors still talk about it.

I'm fortunate in that most of my Christmas memories are happy. Probably the happiest was 1993 when my girlfriend and I went for a walk in my dad's neighborhood on Christmas Eve in the bitter cold. At the end of the walk I stopped her on the front porch to kiss her and ask her to be my wife (got on one knee with the ring and everything). She said, "Yes! Now can we go inside? I'm freezing!" My father, who was the only person there who knew that I was going to pop the question, had laid by a goodly supply of nice champagne and we all had a great time celebrating. I still regard this as the single smartest thing I ever did.

7 years later we gave our parents each a "World's Greatest Grandma/Grandpa" ornament to let them know that they were about to achieve that status. The looks on their faces were priceless.

And one of my favorite memories is a little tradition that I keep all to myself. We spend each Christmas Eve at my father's house where he throws a party, inviting the whole family (including my wife's parents) and lots of friends. He has a neat contemporary house and one feature is a "window" that looks out of the upstairs hallway into the huge living room. Each year I slip away from the crowd and go upstairs to peer out this window at the party below. The room is lit with a fire in the fireplace and the bright glow of the giant, 12-15 foot tall Christmas tree that my dad always gets. Everybody is laughing and talking. Our own special blend of Christmas music (usually the Muppets and some Emmilou Harris) is playing in the background. In that moment, all is right with the world.