The smell of pine and chestnuts filling the air. Homes lighting up the neighborhood. Parking lots packed with an abundance of trees. Starbucks selling their seasonal holiday drinks. People storming shopping malls for gifts. Hearing Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas is You everywhere. Holiday movie marathons playing on TV all day. All signs of Christmas approaching. The holiday season of gift-giving, festivities, jolly singing, and vibrant decorations.
Approximately nine-in-ten Americans (ninety percent) celebrate Christmas. Christmas is no longer just celebrated by Christians, but a yearly tradition for many American families from diverse backgrounds. For the majority, Christmas holds common traditions such as: decorating your home and a christmas tree; leaving cookies and milk for Santa; handing out annual Christmas cards; or buying/receiving gifts. On a typical Christmas day, immediate families spend time together opening gifts and eating to their heart’s content. But for that ten percent, common Christmas traditions are nonexistent and Christmas day is just another ordinary day for them or a day for a “special” family dinner.
I am part of that ten percent. No gift-giving. No Christmas decorations. No jolliness. I am that unlit house with no Christmas decoration—standing out from the brightly decorated homes. Many people get excited when December approaches, meanwhile I think of it as any other normal month. On Christmas Day, my family would have a nice steak dinner or celebrate Christmas at a family’s house with a potluck (similar to Thanksgiving) and that’s pretty much it.
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My parents are immigrants from Vietnam so they did not grow up celebrating Christmas and never thought to practice Christmas, even though it was common in the United States. As a child, Santa did not exist for me (don’t worry, I wasn’t one of those kids that said Santa wasn’t real). I found out Christmas existed when I went to school. I envied kids who celebrated Christmas at my school. One time, I wanted a Christmas tree so badly that I taped printer paper together to make a two-dimensional, three-feet Christmas tree. I would color in the Christmas tree and draw the ornaments with markers.
Eventually, that envy turned into apathy. It was “whatever.” Although now that I am older, I can proudly say I celebrate Christmas. Yes, it is not your typical Christmas but busy schedules are aligning. Christmas to me means bringing my busy family collectively to spend needed family time and eating a satisfying meal together. Christmas may be a day of giving but don’t forget to show appreciation and gratefulness to the people that matter to you. After all, the holidays wouldn’t exist without your family and friends.