When asked what my favorite holiday is, I’ve always said Christmas, but if I were truly honest and specific, that answer goes much deeper into my favorite family tradition. Every Christmas Eve, we pack my maternal grandmother’s house full of immediate family and extended family for a little appetizer and cookie night. Catching up, cracking jokes, and a house packed with laughter and overflowing onto the snow-covered porch. The next day is spent in PJs at the same house watching movies and enjoying my grandmother’s, parents’, and brother’s presence.
Christmas has never been about the gifts for me, but rather this two-day tradition getaway at “Nonnie and Papa’s house.” The older I get, the more I recognize that I’ve always prioritized quality time with others as the most expensive gift I could ever be given.
Growing up, I was introduced to the legend that is Santa Claus. The old man who loves cookies, has eight reindeer, and visits every house during the late-night hours of Dec. 24 into Dec. 25 to deliver presents to all the kids who ended up on the nice list. As you grow up, some people believe the so-called “Christmas magic” fades; I disagree.
The heart of “Christmas (or holiday) magic” is simply that, a heart. As I’ve grown up, I’ve witnessed an abundance of love and care that pours out of almost every person around the holiday season. I don’t think it’s a questionable statement that people crave to love others and be loved in return. The holiday season tends to provide people with an avenue to express that love without fear of rejection.
There are many different forms of love that exist and pour out of Nov., Dec., and Jan. As I grew up, my belief in the physical Santa faded into a more abstract Santa. I choose to believe that Santa is built out of the outpour of love that exists around the holiday season. Every act of love in any of its forms pieces together Santa Claus. Whether that’s through big loud gestures of love, small quiet gestures of love, and/or every act of love in between.
The crockpot that was mysteriously delivered to my house on my mom’s first Christmas with children, holiday gift exchanges between friends, breakfasts with Morgan, Abigail, Montana, and other friends, filling my water bottle with apple juice to shovel driveways with my family, annoying my boyfriend, friendship and relationship breakups that grow into new friendships and experiences, are all different size pieces that make up Santa and his holiday magic. In the same way that “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Santa is not built exclusively during the holiday season.
The love that makes up Santa is all around, all the time, even if I’m not always noticing it. I am so appreciative of the family and friends who contribute to building the holiday magic for me, and I hope I can contribute to their holiday magic in the same way.