Christmas Time

Every year, my grandparents have a big Christmas celebration at their house, complete with two Christmas trees, trains, a ton of food, and you betcha, lots of snow. All the family comes over to eat and open presents. Aunts, uncles, cousins, boyfriends, girlfriends, and whomever else shows up to see each other before the big day. My grandparents have 7 children and I'm not sure how many grandchildren (last time I checked, I think it was around 30, but I could be way off!), and now we're even adding great great grandchildren into the mix. This massive family Christmas party has been going on for as long as I can remember, probably longer than I've been alive. Every year, I would go over a day or two before to help my grandparents decorate (my favorite part has always been setting up my grandpa's trains! they're amazingly cool!), cook (dilly casserole bread... yummmmmmmmm), and whatever else they needed me to do. The family would then trickle in and the festivities would begin. 

One of my favorite parts of Christmas!

However, about four Christmases ago, my parents and I moved away from Michigan and our family Christmas, to North Carolina. Not exactly the half an hour drive to grandma's anymore! And since our big move down south, Christmas seems to have lost something. There's no more giant piles of snow, no more grandma reading her Christmas story as we grandchildren gather around her on the floor, and no more setting up the trains. With my older brother and sister starting families of their own and not returning for Christmas, well this year seems to be out of place, and the last three years seem to act as prelude to the years to come. Times are changing and I guess no one really realizes that until traditions fizzle out. But have no fear, Christmas is still special to me nonetheless. While I may not be able to partake in it as years past, I still have the memories of those that I could and the ability to create new Christmas memories to last a life time.