Remember when?………You are traveling back in time for this question. Remembering back to when you were younger and it was the Holiday Season…..Thinking creatively, write about some of the best childhood or young adult moments you can remember – families, traditions, etc., what did you do, where were you, who was there.
This year I spent Christmas Eve with my fiancé Rob and his large Portuguese family. They are a young wonderful bunch of people who demonstrate what family means. I don’t have any relatives that live close by, so holidays for my family are typically small. This is the second year that I’ve spent Christmas and Christmas Eve with the Ferreira bunch. The night started out some mouth watering Portuguese treats and chocolate martinis. People slowly filed in from the cold and the kitchen soon grew to max capacity. All night we heard shouts as to Santa’s location. (did you know that you can track Santa on www.noradsanta.org ) However, Santa made a special stop and surprised the children with his visit. The kids giggled with delight as each one took turns sitting in his lap as they received their gift. With full bellies and empty glasses, everyone joined together for a little karaoke and dancing. It was amazing to see everyone come together, young and young at heart and shake their booty to the YMCA, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Portuguese tune I don’t quite know the name of yet. I hope with all my heart that this was a little taste of what’s to come 5 months from now : ). I also pray that this is a family tradition that we can continue as we move into this next phase of our life.
Christmas morning was just as wonderful. I woke up at five am to Rob’s two cheerful siblings who had already dived into the presents. It was a two hour battle to get them to wait until everyone else woke up. I remember when I was their age and I would sneak down into the living room. My brother Matthew would always beat me to the punch though. He would be sitting there with a devilish grin on his face as he announced the number of presents with his name on it. Sara and Tyler were no exception. They piled high seven stacks of presents and proceeded to count each one. Remember that magic?? The excitement and anticipation? They checked and saw that Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. They even told me that Santa must have seen me sleeping because there were presents for me too! Haha it was absolutely wonderful and I just hope that Rob and I get to experience that same Christmas magic when we have children.
