With the holiday season commencing, colder weather trickling in from up north and trips being booked to go see relatives over break, it has me reflecting on my past holidays throughout my life–celebrations I look forward to when the new year comes along. I thought it’d be fun to take you on a journey with me as I discuss the highs and lows of every holiday tradition my family and I (or just I) have taken part in over the years and find out my top choice.
7. ST PATRICK’S DAY
I know, don’t come for me. I know St. Paddy’s Day is significant in college, but I haven’t gotten the chance to partake in that yet… so for now, the memories of this day are a recollection of corn beef and cabbage my family makes every year and non-stop basketball games on the television as we watch March Madness. It’s a fun day, filled with feeling full and good vibes, but it could truly be any other day which is why it’s (sadly) my least-ranked choice.
6. FOURTH OF JULY
America’s Independence Day is one of those holidays that people start to associate with hot dogs and fire and forget that it is one of the more thoughtful holidays–a day that establishes the USA as its own nation. The day is ironic to me because it could just be another day in summer: relatives coming over to eat some BBQ, gossip about popular culture and politics, watch Independence Day and set off some fireworks–well, actually the fireworks set it apart from the other blistering days, so it is, after all, a special time.
5. HALLOWEEN
Placing Halloween was hard. I do love fall: the orangeness, the extremity of pumpkin in everything, the changing of colors I only see in Tallahassee and the promise of an incoming holiday season. I don’t know when I stopped liking the holiday–perhaps after going trick-or-treating almost every year of my life, then being told you’re too old when you enter middle school might be it. We still ate sloppy joes and watched the baseball games playing as tradition, but it still felt like something was missing. I once thought celebrating Halloween at college would make me like it again, but it only has cemented more the idea that staying at home, baking and rewatching Halloweentown is more my style.
4. VALENTINE’S DAY
I’m a sucker for love. Heart-shaped chocolates, a hundred red roses, a ginormous teddy bear that has no business existing… as a hopeless romantic, this holiday brings joy to me because I love love (although, I’m a firm believer that love for other people should be shown every day, not just a holiday that businesses capitalize on). Every year, I would get a valentine’s card from my mom and dad, and a heart-shaped chocolate box; it was wonderful. I never felt as if I was missing out on not having a romantic love during my early high school years, but I can say, having a boyfriend in February this year for the very first time made the day a whole lot more special.
3. THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving to me is so special because it’s like Christmas in a way, except the ‘gifts’ you receive are seeing relatives that you don’t see as often as you’ve liked, plus the delicious spread of food you only get once a year. I have the privilege of enjoying both American dishes and Caribbean delicacies. The day starts off with my parents and sister bustling up a storm in the kitchen as we watch the beloved Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as we eat breakfast. Then we take the turkey, green bean casserole and a new recipe my sister found over to my grandmother’s house where we feast over football. Some years, it’s different and our whole family can’t be together as people move to different states, but it never spoils the memorable time we have.
2. NEW YEAR’S
Already a year has gone by, and it’s time to enter a new chapter when you’re still stuck on page five of the last one. This holiday is an excitement-filled one during the hours you wouldn’t usually spend with your elder relatives, but it’s also a slow, melancholy period where you reflect on all you’ve done and what you wish to do. We binge-eat homemade appetizers at my grandma’s house and watch singers perform in the cold on television as the hours pass at a snail’s pace. At midnight, we kiss and hug and drink apple cider and hope for a better year as the fireworks light up the sky. New Year’s Day is my favorite time: we go over to a family friend’s house at noon who hosts a brunch party where we eat gourmet casseroles and play board games. There is a languid feel to the whole day that feels like a new beginning.
1. CHRISTMAS
As I get older, I realize my fondness of this holiday does not lie in the presents that I don’t need, but rather the anticipation rallying up to it, the aspect of all my family getting together in a joyful, warm bubble, the happiness that accumulates when someone likes a gift you got them. Christmas starts on the night before: a Christmas Eve party where my parents invite their high school friends they’ve known for decades, relatives from both sides and a smorgasbord Hogwarts would be jealous of. When everyone has left, we lay out cookies and milk for Santa and toss and turn in sleep, hoping to hear a sound from the living room in the middle of the night. On the day of Christmas, we spend half the day at my own house with my immediate family going through presents, making breakfast and making sure our pets don’t eat the wrapping paper. The rest of the day is spent at my grandma’s where we overindulge in ham and sweets, try out our new gadgets and play card games until we’re drowsy. It is one of the most wonderful days of the year.
Although they may not always be picture-perfect every year, holidays give us a chance to slow down and appreciate the time we have with the people we treasure. The traditions I’ve grown up with helped me and gave me something to look forward to when life gets complicated, and I hope that for everyone this season.
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