Growing up, I longed for the Christmas’ of the typical American family that I saw on TV. Running down the stairs Christmas morning with Santa’s gifts piled under the tree, snow and a fire in the fireplace, singing Christmas carols and all that. The little control freak that was present in me even as a child wanted traditions –the exact same Christmas Eve celebration, the same Christmas morning breakfast, even the tree being in the exact same place. Yet, it as never that way.

One year, there would be the hustle and bustle of all my family (at one point all four grandparents lived under our roof). Another, we’d go to a friend’s house. There was that one year when my dad, brother and I spent Christmas alone, while my mom spent the night in the hospital waiting to hear word about my Grandma who’d had a stroke.

When I got married, we’d split the holidays, spending one year with my family, one year with the in laws until the year I had the Kidlet and decided that enough was enough, I was going to have my “typical American family Christmas” and started making traditions to be repeated every single year. And then we got divorced.

This year, I’ve struggled with how and where and with whom to celebrate Christmas and I’ve realized that my need for yearly traditions doesn’t really matter anymore. It really doesn’t matter when we open gifts, what we eat or where we eat it. This year, I am surrounded by the people I love and those that love me. And that, for me, is and has been my “typical American family Christmas.”

Merry Christmas my friends. I hope that you have a blessed holiday surrounded by love and joy.
“For unto us a child is born…” Isaiah 9:6