Today is the last Friday before Christmas and I’m ready. Presents are wrapped, menu is planned…more or less.

I’m looking forward to a rather quiet Christmas and that’s OK. We celebrated with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. With the help of the mighty internet, we can wish family a Merry Christmas from here.

It seems like every Christmas the family gets smaller. I remember when it was loud and crowded. I come from a large family, but we’ve shrunk dramatically, over the years. I miss those noisy, happy Christmases. My aunt and grandmother would cook all day on Christmas Eve. The baking was done days before. And if you left hungry it was your own fault.

Sometimes, we would all gather in the small living room and sing carols. That would be after we had all opened presents.  One of those Christmases, my uncle proposed to my aunt and oh, the celebrating that was done!

My mother’s side of the family was very large. There were seven, plus their kids. It was a house full for sure.

I see a lot of people sharing their favorite holiday moments or traditions. I don’t have one, single moment, but many moments adding up to the best memories that Santa couldn’t give.

Midnight mass was actually at midnight and not at 10 p.m. The choir was so beautiful to hear that even as a child, I loved every song they sang.

Before church we gathered at Grandma’s house for a light meal and gift exchanges.

On Christmas morning, just like in “The Polar Express”, we would run down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. What excitement! Then, in later years, we would dress up and go to church that morning instead of midnight mass.

Family would arrive around noon and the feast would begin. After we ate, we would sit around the table and chat. Sometimes we would sing carols, but mostly the grown-ups would chat while we played with our treasures.

As the years went by, family grew smaller and smaller. The two women that held it all together, my mom and her sister, have passed away. All but two of my uncles are gone, and they live very far away. I still have one aunt remaining and she, too, lives far away from us. My sister’s and my dad and his wife live about seven or eight hours away.

I get more and more nostalgic as the years roll on. I find myself longing for those days again. But I don’t wallow in the past. My husband and kids are here for the holidays and I am truly a blessed woman.

Do you have a favorite Christmas memory? Do share!