Christmas is...

So many things have been written about Christmas. I don't want to create clutter but surely I want to write my piece. I dunno - there's something about Christmas that makes our hearts fonder. Advent kicked in last Sunday, making me feel more excited of the days to come. We already put up our Christmas tree. We didn't buy anything new but I still admire how it looked. Why? because of the effort and instant bonding we had putting it up. I'm not blessed with height so my brother put the decors towards the top of the tree. Nobody disturbs my brother when he plays Warcraft but he willingly helped every single time I call him. The Christmas lights are placed around the tree but it's hard and stupid to circle around the tree to put it so my aunt and my brother stood with me in what seemed like an assembly line. We passed around the christmas lights and we finished setting it up in  no time. My aunt enjoyed though she underwent a minor operation three days before. My favorite decor would have to be the tiniest and cutest pairs of slippers custom-made for both my brother and I. They have our names on it. Looking at it makes me realize that I might not have really grown. I've always been the kid that I was years and years ago.

The Church always say that the true meaning of Christmas is not in the decors or Christmas trees. I believe that. However, the decors, especially the Christmas tree, warm my heart every time. Putting it up makes me remember the things that have happened over the years. It also reminds me of my family and our little traditions. My brother and I are really old enough now to hang socks on our window and wait for Christmas presents from Santa but the sock decor in our Christmas tree brings back fond memories of how we discovered who Santa really was.

My other fond memory of the Christmas tree happened on Christmas 2009 when I went to the US. I saw a real, fresh Christmas tree - snow filled! It was almost summer in the US when I decided to change my profile picture taken beside the snow filled tree. When I was a kid, I would read the Christmas cards that my aunt residing in the US send us every year (Too bad no one loves cards these days anymore). The cover always has snow filled Christmas trees or snowman. When I was young, I always wondered what snow feels like and what a real Christmas tree looks like. It took years before I got to feel it. I had flu the entire two weeks I was in the US but when it snowed, I really went out regardless, and rolled in the snow. If you think that playing in the snow is great; it was nothing compared to my first Christmas in so many years with my parents. My dad rolled in the snow with me!!! I thought I had fun playing when I was a kid but no. That was the best "play" I had my entire life so far.

Indeed, Christmas is about family, loved ones, and thanksgiving for the year that passed. Americans have thanksgiving. Filipinos don't. Thanksgiving happens on Christmas making it extra special. I'm sure a lot of Filipino families will have another Christmas like our family's, i.e., away from some loved ones. With globalization, perhaps even non Filipino families will experience the same. But we don't have to fret. Technological advances allowed us all to make Christmas special despite distance. So what does Christmas really mean, I asked myself.

Christmas is putting up Christmas tree with my brother and aunt... thanking God for the day before his birthday because that's the day the Lord gifted the world and ME with an amazing person, my bf... thanking God for giving me months out of the corporate world which meant spending a lot of quality time with my family and friends... thanking God for giving me a glimpse of what will come next... Christmas is watching home-made videos of my dad's version of classic songs - the best music I've heard. They're more wonderful than Christmas carols to me. Christmas is wishing and waiting for the most special Christmas ever - my brother, my aunt and myself with my parents in the snow-filled Christmas tree just like the Christmas cards... simple but priceless...