The Changing Tide of Favorite Holidays Over Time
As a kid, Christmas was undeniably my favorite holiday. How could it not be? I was fortunate enough to always have a pile of wrapped gifts waiting for me in the dark under a fresh tree as I crept down the stairs far, FAR too early in the wee early hours of December 25. There’s a snippet of a memory I have from when I was probably right around 5 or 6 years old. One of our first Christmases in the home I’d end up spending my entire childhood and early adulthood in.
It was dark, quiet, and cold, because yes, before climate change really took hold, Orlando, Florida, would actually get very cold in the winter. Icy, even. I must have grabbed my sister from her slumber to slink halfway down the stairs with me so we could see if Santa had indeed come. We didn’t dare go all the way down into the formal living room to touch anything, but we sat and admired the scattered boxes and packages—or whatever we thought we could make out in the lack of pre-dawn light—from midway down the stairs. Gripping the balusters, careful not to shove my little head between them, it was a sight any school-aged kid loved to see. The promise of new. New toys, specifically at that age. All I really remember wanting that year was something called an Oopsie Daisy doll, and I spotted it unwrapped with a bow on it along the perimeter of the tree. What a thrill. How could I possibly sleep until morning knowing my Oopsie Daisy doll was waiting for me?
Christmas, of course, loses its sparkle the older you get, reignited when little ones come along. When my nephews were still much younger though old enough to know what was going on, things got fun again. Maybe even more fun being on the other side of it all. But December 25th always turned into December 26th, and that same sad sinking feeling of finality, of having to wait a whole other 365 days again, would settle in.
At some point along the way, with Christmas still holding an immensely special place in my heart, I started truly appreciating Thanksgiving. For many reasons, of course, but for the sake of today’s story, it was mostly because it felt more like the start of something than the end of something. All the excitement of the upcoming season is just right there, waiting to be enjoyed. It’s all in front of you, nothing behind you. Kind of like being 22 fresh out of college…nowhere to go by forward, so much life still to live. Anticipation always has far more energy than…whatever the opposite of anticipation is.
And now, I’ve backed it up even more. I was never a Halloween person. I do love a good creepy movie (not gory), a handful of mini Twix bars, some pumpkin carving action. But I never really did the party circuit as a young adult or anything like that. If a pizza was ordered, a trip to Blockbuster (back in the day) was complete and a small bowl of fun-sized chocolates was around, I was a happy camper. But I have to say…I love the month of October so much because it’s truly the lead-up to all the fun. To Halloween, which rolls into Thanksgiving, which rolls into Christmas, which rolls into…a new year and then the monotony of life again.
All of that to say, or rather ask…what is your favorite holiday, and has it changed over time? Looking forward to hearing from you!
See you tomorrow, FOAS.