Memories are my favorite thing about Christmas, and sharing them makes me love the holiday even more. This year, as you gather with family and friends, practice the art of story-telling and make the sharing of these memories a tradition.
Come the end of a year, we often make lists of top moments and we reflect upon how that year has changed us. Too often though, we overlook the power of Christmas memories in these lists, so I decided to create my own list of top Christmas memories. I encourage you to spend today creating and sharing your own list!
(1). Lake of the Woods Church, VA, 1988. My stage debut, as a sheep, I crawled across stage with a temperature of 102, not knowing anything about what I was actually doing, but thrilled to be the center of attention. This memory sticks out to me mostly because I loved the prep before we left the house, Nick, who was dressed as a donkey, and I played to hearts’ content on the front porch in our sheep and donkey costumes.
(2). Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, 2004. The best family trip ever, we celebrated both Christmas and my parent’s 25 Anniversary together on the beach at sunrise. Mom and I tanned, Dad slipped me a few drinks, and my brother Nick and I went for a run.
(3). Dublin, Ireland, 2006. Accompanied by one of my best friends, Angi, we spent Christmas abroad together in Dublin before a trip to London for New Years. Our day was filled with re-runs of Friends, a grocery-store eclectic dinner, and strolls through the empty streets of Dublin looking for an open pub. Oh, and Angi wearing her Santa hat like a ridiculous elf!
(4). Lake of the Woods, VA, 1991. One of my most magical Christmases ever, this year Santa came early, on Christmas Eve. Mom had visited Old Saint Nick at the Spotsylvania Mall to let him know that we would be in Connecticut for Christmas morning and asked him to come early. To my delight I was surprised one night after swim practice with a new doll house, bean bag chairs and a living room full of toys.
(5). Lake of the Woods, VA, 1990. Christmas this year was a winter wonderland. With Virginia iced over in sleet and snow, Nick and I created the ultimate luge course in the ditch of the giant hill we lived on. It was and always will be the best, fastest sledding of my life. To warm up between luge sessions, we spent our day battling over our new Foosball table.
