Christmas is an amazing time for wonderful memories to happen. I took some time to interview our wonderful staff about their favorite Christmas memories, and they had some really heartwarming ones to share.
This wonderful memory is shared by Mr. Delaney: “Growing up, my sisters and I would always wake up earlier than our parents, as we were excited about Christmas, so we would then go and jump on my parents’ bed to wake them up. They would have us wait at the top of the stairs while they went downstairs to get coffee and put the presents in piles for each of us to open. While we were excited to open our own presents, we would all take turns opening one present and then moving onto the next person to open a present. This has continued to this day, where we are also excited to watch each other open the presents we got for them.”
Another wonderful memory from Mrs. Schmidt is more recent. “My favorite Christmas memory is probably two years ago, when my son was 2. He was old enough to now fully understand the Santa Claus concept and believe in Santa, and there is just something so special about seeing that sense of wonder in a child. On Christmas Eve, we laid out cookies for Santa, and in the morning, I still vividly remember him running out to examine them and exclaiming, ‘Santa ate the cookies!!’ Then the pure joy on his face as he opened gifts from Santa and us will stick with me forever. Christmas was not always my favorite growing up because of the stress of having to go so many different places across the holiday, but it has become a whole new experience for me as a parent.”
Mrs. Mann also has a warm memory, which is from Christmas Eve, the day that her family celebrates. She recalls, “I loved going to my grandparents’ house in Chicago and packing many relatives in a small apartment. We had amazing home-cooked Polish food, celebrated with Oplatki, and had an in-person visit from Santa. We then celebrated midnight Mass at St. Josephat Parish, where my family has been part of for over 100 years. The Parish was started by Kaszubian’s which reflects my mom’s family culture. My Grandpa, a carpenter, built many benches and display cases there. It was always so special to have our entire family together to culminate our Christmas celebration with the real reason to celebrate this season.”
A beautiful memory shared by Mrs. Roesslein shows how important starting new family traditions is. “One Christmas memory that we started when our children were very young was that before we opened any Christmas presents, we brought out a cake that I made and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus…candles and all! The cake was chocolate to represent our sin. The icing was white to represent God’s forgiveness of our sin. The ‘Happy Birthday, Jesus’ was written in red frosting, which represented Christ’s Blood on the cross.”
Mr. Salchert also has a fun, family tradition. “Our family gets a real tree every year. When you get a real tree, you cut a slice off the bottom (like trimming the bottom off of flower stems so it can take in water). We have taken that slice of wood every year since my wife and I were married (2001), and modge podged our Christmas Card picture (which we also do every year) onto it and made it into an ornament. We now have 25 ‘tree slice’ annual ornaments and will keep doing this as our tradition. It’s fun to see the years where we had different sized trees. One year, we had a small tree that we kept on a table because we had toddlers that was only like 2″ diameter, and one year we bought a 14′ tree, which we call the ‘Flava Flave’ bling ornament because it’s about 8″ in diameter.”
Christmas is truly a season of giving, especially to those close to us, and a loving memory shared by Mrs. Schroeder demonstrates this. “I have a favorite memory from several years ago. I came home from work late one day, just prior to Christmas- and my son, who was in the eighth grade at the time, had put up our 12-foot Christmas tree in our family room all by himself. He wanted to surprise me. It had been a bit of a difficult time in the months leading up to Christmas, and his kind gesture was very much appreciated. It’s something that I’ve never forgotten, and each Christmas I remember how good that felt to walk in the house and see the tree up.”
Mr. Kolotouros also has an exciting memory from one of his best gifts. “Christmas morning, 1982. I was 10 and got an Atari 2600 game console for Christmas. Plus, three games: Space Invaders, Defender, and Megamania. The console came with the game Combat, which was a 2-player game. It had tank battles and air battles. I would routinely defeat my sister in short order in air battles, which drove her nuts. Dittos with my friends in the neighborhood. I was undefeated in the air! LOL! I played those games all through Christmas break!”
Mr. Gonzales has a memory that is sure to make you laugh. “My favorite Christmas memory is when I was around 13 years old, my family was hosting Christmas Eve. We were going to church before company came over, and my father thought our oven had an automatic shut-off, so he started cooking our meal before we went to church. When my siblings and I got home, our house was filled with smoke and our planned meal was ruined. By the time our family arrived for dinner, we had been able to throw together a different meal, and ever since then we have had a memory that makes us all laugh.”
Mr. Powers has a great memory to share. “At my grandparents, after Christmas dinner, my cousins and I were herded into the adjacent room to where the Christmas tree was for no apparent reason, and then there was all this screaming that Santa had arrived; we came back in the room and presents were everywhere. Also, I loved the bubbler ornaments and got a GI Joe, which was a big deal in the late ’60s.”
An exhilarating memory from Mrs. Reed: “One of my favorite Christmas memories is going to a little Swedish-American village when I was a child and getting hit in the head with a bunch of straw by a man dressed like a goat (It’s called a Julebukk and it’s a slightly terrifying Scandinavian tradition).”
Ms. Hogan has a memory that has continued to this day. “My favorite Christmas memory has really become a treasured Christmas tradition. My mom works as a secretary at an elementary school, and ever since I was in middle school, my sister and I would sneak into the building late at night for a little ‘wrapping party.’ We’d help my mom and a few other staff members wrap gifts from the school’s giving tree. Because the school serves a lower-income community, my mom reaches out to families who could use a little extra support during the holidays and helps create a list of students in need. Kind members of the community donate gifts, and then ‘the Goodwin elves,’ as we’ve been named, wrap and deliver everything in secret to keep the magic alive. I love wrapping presents, and getting to blast Christmas music, laugh with my family, and wrap gifts for the kids at my mom’s school has always made the giving and kindness of the season shine even brighter. This Tuesday [December 17th] will be the night it all happens this year, and I am super excited.”
Ms. Reda also has an exciting memory. “My favorite Christmas memory was from Christmas 2013. It was my first Christmas that I had my horses living at home. This had been a childhood dream. My whole life, I had wanted to have a horse at home. That morning I went to feed the boys and as I was walking back up to my house, I was just so overwhelmed by the joy of realizing one of my oldest dreams had come true. My dream had become a reality. Then we went to mass and both my children were the altar servers. It was the best day!”
Whether it’s opening one gift on Christmas Eve like Ms. Page or starting your own traditions like Mrs. Roesslein and Mr. Salchert, the Christmas holiday always presents opportunities to create memories that last a lifetime.
