The best part of December is the holiday cheer. But has it lost its meaning over the years? I feel like it has.
When I think about Christmas it involves a picture of slow-falling snow, houses lit by colorful lights, cocoa, movies that bring the holiday cheer and buying gifts for the ones that you love.
Growing up, my parents used to take me and my siblings in the car with our pajamas on and cocoa in hand for a ride to look at the Christmas lights. Normally we would do this a few days before the holiday and it would be beautiful.
Now that I’m older and I look around as I am driving, it seems rare to see the lights.
The lights don’t seem to be the only thing that’s off. Gift buying for your loved ones seemed to turn into an obsession with getting the best deal.
Everyone wants to save a few bucks, I get that. I do too. But I also don’t leave my family on Thanksgiving to do so.
I feel like everyone has gotten cheaper and at the same time lost the idea of the holiday. It’s not supposed to be about money but in the end, everything is about the money.
I don’t feel like my family has been taking the cheapest way out of everything, but maybe we are and I don’t even see it. We still put up Christmas lights and we don’t go shopping on Thanksgiving. Instead we focus on family.
Christmas isn’t about the gifts so much. We revolve everything around the large feast we have.
It marks the end of our fast that we have been partaking in and we eat just as much as someone would on Thanksgiving.
The best part of Christmas is that my whole family comes into town. I get to see my favorite cousins that only come around on the holidays.
That in itself has always been my favorite part. I would ask my parents again and again when they were coming. Before they were going to be arriving at my grandparents, I would make sure my mom took me over there so I could greet them upon their arrival.
Isn’t that what the holidays are supposed to be about: getting together with your family and enjoying yourselves?
I feel like people have lost the meaning and try to replace it with other things such as the shopping and the gifts that they get.
I don’t go running to my grandparents’ house anymore or drive around to look at Christmas lights. Maybe I should. Maybe everyone should.
If I did, if everyone did, would it bring back the real holiday cheer that I remember from when I was a kid?
Take a step back and look at where we all are. Are we where we really want to be or did we get lost along the way?
KAT SHINDLEDECKER
