Still Obsessed with Christmas

The few girls I’ve lived with during my college years can attest to this: I’m obsessed with Christmas. I start listening to music the day after Thanksgiving. I love the scent of pine trees and often spray it around the house, to the point where my unsuspecting roomate once asked, “Am I having a stroke or does it smell like Christmas trees?” I record and watch tons of Christmas movies, own Rudolph slippers, eat Christmas cookies, go to the mall just to look at decorations, and generally talk about Christmas to the point of everyone’s exhaustion. I am, for lack of a better term, Christmas’s stalker.

Photo by Wikipedia user Ra Boe

I must defend my love of this awesome holiday, however. Because I know the tendency, as we all get older, is to start hating on Christmas, or at least start liking it less. But the Christmas spirit has never dimmed in me. I think this has so much to do with what it means for my family and how I was raised, but maybe I can give some insight into this. Yes, Christmas has changed for me. I no longer leave cookies for Santa (and carrots for Rudolph). I no longer wake my parents up at 5am to open presents, and I no longer wear ridiculous matching outfits (thanks for that, Mom) with my sister. Yet I still love it.

For me, Christmas brings this unmatchable feeling of love, family togetherness, and childhood innocence. The Andy Williams Christmas album and Elvis Presley’s “If Everyday Were Like Christmas” bring back fond memories. Memories of dancing around the coffee table, making cut-out sugar cookies with my mom, decorating the tree as a family, and writing letters to Santa. And although I don’t do these things anymore, the memories are good enough. I am thankful every year for those memories, and every year those memories bring me warmth.

We used to spend Christmas Eve every year at my Mimi and Papa’s (paternal grandparents), and although they are no longer with us, every year my memories of them are just as vivid. Seeing my extended family, and engaging in the exchanging of gifts, eating good food, and being around people I love will never lose its charm.

Is it so crazy that Christmas is such a sentimental time for me and my family? Maybe I am just more tied to the memories than others. Well, then, I think everyone could use a dose of those good memories too. So this year, take a page from my book. You don’t have to be as excited or obsessed as I am, but remember what it is that made this holiday so great for you as a kid, and my guess is you’ll feel a little more optimistic about Christmas. Afterall, as Andy Williams says in his song of the same name, it really is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

About Deanna Falcone

Deanna Falcone (CAS '11) is a liberal political columnist for the Quad. She is a political science major and is originally from Danbury, Connecticut.

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