Christmastime is here. HAPPINESS AND CHEER.
Christmas is quite possibly the best holiday ever. Not even the best holiday, the best time of year. Why? Everything is covered in glitter. Lights hang from everything. Christmas markets. Everything smells like gingerbread and cinnamon. PRESENTS. No school/work/responsibility for a few days. Snow. Christmas music. Carols. Cake. Reindeer antlers. Decorating the Christmas tree. TINSEL FOR DAYS.
Every shop window here in Graz has some sort of christmasy display, be it big or small. What matters is that its there. Christmas is alive and well here in my little Austrian hideaway. Lights hang from every building, over the streets and alleyways. There's a giant Christmas tree at Hauptplatz, snow is currently scattered around the city...EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL.
When I was younger, Christmas meant two things: the first was clearly presents. PRESENTS PRESENTS PRESENTS. As an only child, I got lots of presents. AND I LOVED IT. I still love presents, but I no longer ask for things like giant Barbie Dream Houses or puppies. Now I just want to be with the family, have the most stuff in my stocking, and eat lots of food. Also, now that I'm older, my presents aren't limited to the fluffy Beanie Baby variety. SO MANY MORE OPTIONS!
Now the second meaning of Christmas was the Heinrichs Family Tradition of attending a dinner party on Christmas Eve, one that we've attended for about 18 years of my life. Several families would come together under the roof of one of the nicest, quirkiest, most welcoming and wittiest couples I've had the pleasure of knowing. I looked forward to this night every year. I would don my Christmas dress when I was a wee lass, be paraded about, play with a pack of grandsons and generally eat everything in sight. When I got older, it was a chance to talk to cool liberal adults, eat just as much food, and prove that I, too, could be smart and witty. And we'd sing carols. In recent years, this tradition slowly stopped. This wonderfully warm family lost both a mother and daughter to cancer in but a few short years. And although they're gone, I know I always have 18 perfect Christmas Eves to remember them by.
Christmas for me has never registered on the religious level. Sure, we'd have a few manger scenes scattered about the house but I attribute this to my mother's Catholic Hispanic heritage rather than any firm belief in the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. We didn't go to mass or church. It just wasn't a thing. Mostly Christmas meant and means family. We'd decorate the house together, decorate the tree as a 3 person family unit. We always did this together, even if it meant waiting until 3 days before Christmas due to university schedules. We use the same ornaments that my dad has had for over 50 years, the same ornaments my mom has had since she began teaching before I was born. Our tree topper is a plastic golden star that belonged to my grandma Leona, which probably cost less than $5 but to me is priceless. We hang stockings for the pets, put up every Christmas card we receive, drink eggnog and listen to the same 4 Christmas albums. We visit family, eat tamales on the "bad" side of town, go to CALM to see the lights and spend stressful evenings wrapping presents before going out into the cold to this or that party. Christmas is when my dad doesn't have to work late, when my mom and I don't argue and when I could put an ugly sweater on my overweight dachshund.
And even though I won't be "home" for Christmas this year, I'm still surrounded by the essence of it. Every day in Graz until I leave for England on the 22nd is a merry, Glühwein-filled romp. Christmas lights guide me home from a night out, I see happy families window shopping and eating roasted chestnuts. When I meet my parents in Essex, even though we won't be in California, it'll still be Christmas. And it'll still be our 3 person family unit. And that's what counts. Though, I will miss the tamales....
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| Christmas market am Glockenspielplatz |
Christmas is quite possibly the best holiday ever. Not even the best holiday, the best time of year. Why? Everything is covered in glitter. Lights hang from everything. Christmas markets. Everything smells like gingerbread and cinnamon. PRESENTS. No school/work/responsibility for a few days. Snow. Christmas music. Carols. Cake. Reindeer antlers. Decorating the Christmas tree. TINSEL FOR DAYS.
Every shop window here in Graz has some sort of christmasy display, be it big or small. What matters is that its there. Christmas is alive and well here in my little Austrian hideaway. Lights hang from every building, over the streets and alleyways. There's a giant Christmas tree at Hauptplatz, snow is currently scattered around the city...EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL.
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| Franziskanerplatz |
When I was younger, Christmas meant two things: the first was clearly presents. PRESENTS PRESENTS PRESENTS. As an only child, I got lots of presents. AND I LOVED IT. I still love presents, but I no longer ask for things like giant Barbie Dream Houses or puppies. Now I just want to be with the family, have the most stuff in my stocking, and eat lots of food. Also, now that I'm older, my presents aren't limited to the fluffy Beanie Baby variety. SO MANY MORE OPTIONS!
Now the second meaning of Christmas was the Heinrichs Family Tradition of attending a dinner party on Christmas Eve, one that we've attended for about 18 years of my life. Several families would come together under the roof of one of the nicest, quirkiest, most welcoming and wittiest couples I've had the pleasure of knowing. I looked forward to this night every year. I would don my Christmas dress when I was a wee lass, be paraded about, play with a pack of grandsons and generally eat everything in sight. When I got older, it was a chance to talk to cool liberal adults, eat just as much food, and prove that I, too, could be smart and witty. And we'd sing carols. In recent years, this tradition slowly stopped. This wonderfully warm family lost both a mother and daughter to cancer in but a few short years. And although they're gone, I know I always have 18 perfect Christmas Eves to remember them by.
Christmas for me has never registered on the religious level. Sure, we'd have a few manger scenes scattered about the house but I attribute this to my mother's Catholic Hispanic heritage rather than any firm belief in the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. We didn't go to mass or church. It just wasn't a thing. Mostly Christmas meant and means family. We'd decorate the house together, decorate the tree as a 3 person family unit. We always did this together, even if it meant waiting until 3 days before Christmas due to university schedules. We use the same ornaments that my dad has had for over 50 years, the same ornaments my mom has had since she began teaching before I was born. Our tree topper is a plastic golden star that belonged to my grandma Leona, which probably cost less than $5 but to me is priceless. We hang stockings for the pets, put up every Christmas card we receive, drink eggnog and listen to the same 4 Christmas albums. We visit family, eat tamales on the "bad" side of town, go to CALM to see the lights and spend stressful evenings wrapping presents before going out into the cold to this or that party. Christmas is when my dad doesn't have to work late, when my mom and I don't argue and when I could put an ugly sweater on my overweight dachshund.
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| Parents, Christmas 2008 |
And even though I won't be "home" for Christmas this year, I'm still surrounded by the essence of it. Every day in Graz until I leave for England on the 22nd is a merry, Glühwein-filled romp. Christmas lights guide me home from a night out, I see happy families window shopping and eating roasted chestnuts. When I meet my parents in Essex, even though we won't be in California, it'll still be Christmas. And it'll still be our 3 person family unit. And that's what counts. Though, I will miss the tamales....
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| Reindeer <3 |
