Season Greetings To One And All
As the year comes to a close, I find myself looking back at the beautiful moments Christmas has brought into my life. It's a reminder of love, joy, and the true spirit of giving. 🎄✨
Season Greetings to one and all. I come with glad tidings, mince pies and mulled wine. I don’t know about you but life has been pretty hectic. I literally haven’t had a chance to breathe and have been functioning in survival mode. There’s always something to do or somewhere to go. The to do list is endless. My dream is to have a full day doing nothing but sitting on the sofa and watching Christmas movies. My all time favourite is Home Alone which I have watched at least once a year since I was a child. At this point I can only dream of that sofa day. As it a day before Christmas I find myself reflecting on my experiences of Christmas over the years. There have been some challenging Christmases but some truly fun ones as well.
My fondest memory of Christmas was celebrating Christmas in St Vincent and the Grenadines as a child. My Aunt and Uncle God rest their soul,who I lived with from a young age made it very special. My Aunt and Uncle used to wake me up at 5:30 in the morning and the living room would be full of wonderful gifts nicely wrapped. I always wondered where they hid the present’s because the house was very compact and had minimal storage. The weeks leading up to Christmas I would start looking in cupboards and underneath beds in hope to discover their hiding space. I was never successful. After opening our presents we would have a lovely breakfast which consisted of ham, bakes, salt fish, freshly baked bread and other delicious delicacies. We would have various people visiting throughout the day. My Aunt and Uncle would exchange small gifts to the visitors and they would do so vice versa i.e freshly baked bread or a piece of ham. One of my favourite memories was that people didn’t have a-lot but they were so generous with what they had and they had a heart of gratitude. After breakfast we would dress up in our best clothes. I would play with my toys and would constantly be eating throughout the day. Hence why I was given the nickname dumpling.
The weeks leading up to Christmas would be mayhem. Everyone would be giving their homes a thorough clean. Visitors were kept to a minimum as Christmas was the big reveal day of plumped cushions, new curtains , freshly painted walls , sparkling windows ,new appliances and much more. If something was broken or looking worn down in the home. There would be no urgency to fix it all year long until the weeks leading up too Christmas. People would complain they were broke and they can’t replace such items but the weeks leading up to Christmas as a Child it just seemed like money dropped out of the sky .The village would lit up at night with beautiful and vast Christmas decorations. My favourite was a dancing santa.
I never believed in Santa because we had no chimneys or snow but it was amusing to see a dancing santa.
Christmas can also be challenging this time of the year. I have had my fair share which I won’t dwell on. Even in moments of grief, the spirit of Christmas can guide us towards hope and healing. Christmas reminds us to cherish the memories, celebrate the love, and find strength in our hearts. While Christmas can bring forth difficult emotions, it also offers an opportunity for renewal, resilience, and gratitude. I just want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year .
Loved reading this. You painted such a beautiful picture of Christmas as a child in St Vincent. Nice to also be reminded to cherish the years we have. Merry Christmas Athina 🎄
Thank you, Athina!