I have so many wonderful family memories of the holidays from my childhood. I’m sure many have experienced them and are now adults. All of us remember getting gifts on Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning. We got a lot more gifts than we expected and would secretly smile at the thought. The many meals prepared for family and friends to enjoy was a wonderful present for our parents too.

As I grew older, the holiday gathering became a tradition. I remember only getting one or two gifts and everyone getting together into the kitchen and eating what the others brought. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The reason was I always got some sort of phone call at this time, telling us we had to be at a certain time.

One year, we were playing host to a huge group of people. Each of us brought something. When we were in the living room, I went into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a big lump of coal. Of course, everybody wanted something. I would give them a few things back and forth until I had enough for everyone. This was a big deal.

At approximately five in the night, the phone rang again. It was my mom. She said, “Go get the large lump of coal because it belongs to me.” She went into the other room and came out with the lump of coal. We had all been in the kitchen for a couple of minutes. This was something to be celebrated. I went back into the kitchen and celebrated with the family and friends.

When I was grown, we decided to create a new tradition. Every year we would all go to my grandma’s house for a holiday party. She has lived here with us for twenty-two years now. For the holiday party, my parents plan a variety of food. They have large pans and can do catering. We do the cooking ourselves and each of us brings something. We will decide on one day in December what to bring. After all, this is what makes the holiday spirit. This also gives my dad and I time together with each other.

Some of us will get things on this list. Other of us would love to bring something. I asked my oldest sister, Samantha, to have any decorations they could provide. We chose ten Christmas theme things that she could provide. This includes gingerbread man cookies, coloredHistory books, twinkling lights, and something they can find that usually costs under fifteen dollars.

I think what makes this PHA holiday party different and wonderful is that each of us brings something to contribute. My own mother started a tradition in our family of taking something homemade. Even the wrapping paper. She usually shops with us until it ripens, so it doesn’t cost very much. I’ve been known to chip in for any of the five ideas that she picked. The one she chose this year was abort candy. I had never heard of it. We looked it up in the dictionary and found that it is a type of candy made frompriced medicines. Wow!

Now she is so excited about the upcoming month of December. She’s going to make some kind of specialty candies. My grandma so loves to make them. I made her a mix initially and she’s coming with me to the store so I can pick a couple that she likes. It most likely will be a two-hour drive to get there. That drivesched a few more things for us.

I don’t know about you, but I love expressing my love and appreciation with a gift to someone who has been so wonderful to me over the years. I hope my mom enjoys hers as much as I enjoy mine with her. There really is a lot of meaning in giving.