Christmas Joys

Another year almost done, another Christmas to look forward to. As today is Christmas Eve, I thought I’d share what I love most about Christmas and the images that stand out to me.

To me, I love and hate the Christmas wait. It comes so fast and yet not fast enough. As a child and even teenager, I’d dig into my presents ahead of time and then rewrap them (awful, huh?!) but as an adult I take more pleasure in the giving than receiving. This year is the first that my son has more of an understanding as to what is going on, so it is especially exciting as I feed off his excitement and the magic of his imagination (although I haven’t quite lost all of mine).

I love midnight mass. I know we all have our own religious preference but beyond this, I just enjoy the sense of community and the singing of Christmas songs. I love the crispness of the air (even out here in the desert) and the smell of chimneys, cookies and baked hams. There are many years I can recall staying up late and entering that packed church. The candles, the songs, the smiles as we all headed home to barely sleep and wait some more.

I love family and food on Christmas day. It’s a reply of Thanksgiving in many cases but it’s also the last holiday with this family tone to it (let’s face it, New Year’s is just a bit different). And sure I’ll probably be making some reluctant resolution about losing weight as the year ends and we go into 2015, but for tonight and tomorrow, it simply doesn’t matter.

So, enjoy your Christmas (and/or other holidays too)! Spend time with those most precious to you. Thanks for joining me today and I wish you all Happy Writing this week and a Merry Christmas.

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life