The Christmas Spirit

-A. Wood

Christmas has not felt like Christmas in a long time, not since I was a child. When I was younger, there was a certain allure to Christmas. I mean, what kid wouldn’t like a bunch of presents and playing with their cousins? But now, in the past few years, Christmas has seemingly lost its charm. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the family time and everything, but it’s just so different. I remember, every Christmas Eve, my brother and I would wake our mom up early to open presents, and my dad would join us sometime after we opened the stockings. Then, after a few hours of playing around, we’d go to my grandma’s house for the majority of the day. We’d hang out and talk with the family, and sometime after dinner, we would leave and head across town to my dad’s side of the family. We weren't as close with that side of the family; I always thought it felt a bit awkward, but there were two kids around my age, so I didn’t really mind. Nowadays, we get up later and open presents, which is not very different from before. We still go to my grandma's, but now less of the family shows up, and we don’t celebrate with Dad’s side anymore. There are a few things that still get me in the Christmas spirit, such as Christmas shopping, watching movies, and drinking hot cocoa. But Christmas is so different from when I was a kid, and all I can really do about it is to just appreciate what I have now.

-A.W