Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…and another season full of busy malls, crazy relatives and tissue paper. The Christmas season is a time filled with joy and laughter, but also one I find to always be filled with dread and worries over things that really don’t matter. Trying to find someone the perfect Christmas gift or worrying that your kids are going to catch a cold before the holiday…not to sound like Clark Griswold, but what ever happened to the good-old-fashioned-fun family Christmas? In my opinion, the holidays have been overshadowed by all of these concerns and we forget to take a moment to look around and embrace what the holidays are truly all about.
For myself, my favorite part about the holidays is my family. I didn’t grow up with a huge family. It was just my sister, parents and two grandmothers spending all of the holidays together. Yet, I loved them more than anything in the whole world. My childhood memories are filled with happiness and not because of a new iPad waiting under the tree, but because I got to bake cookies with my mom and learn how to wrap presents with my dad. I threw reindeer chow out on the front lawn hoping to hear Santa’s sleigh bells and ran back into the warm house filled with love. Christmas is a reminder of how lucky we are to have so many people in our lives that love us and to be grateful for all that we have to celebrate.
Over the years, I have found myself complaining about the amount of Secret Santas I got looped into joining, whining about the hours I spent in the mall and simply getting caught up in the holiday season. However, as I have gotten older and now moved away from home, I appreciate this time of year more than ever. I am so grateful for my family, the support that they have given me, and the love that we all share. The final night of Thanksgiving Break this year, my mom, dad, sister and I all cuddled onto the same couch like we used to when I was a little girl, and I remember stopping and thinking, “This is what it is all about.”
The trees, lights, glitter, ornaments and cookies are all great, but there is so much more to Christmas than what meets the eye. Growing up Catholic, this time of year is very significant in my faith, and while I didn’t appreciate Christmas Eve Mass as a wide-eyed little girl waiting for Santa, I now look forward to Church. I get to greet all of the members of my community that I often lose touch with over the year, and even if we do simply exchange a “Merry Christmas,” it is comforting to know we will all see each other at the same time, same place next year. This is when I realized the holidays really do highlight the communities we are a part of and that is why we feel such joy during this time. Our families, groups of friends, clubs and teams all host ways to celebrate and spend time with one another which reinforces our sense of belonging amongst one another.
“Honestly, I think it’s really easy to get caught up in the craziness of the holidays with finals and shopping and all the fun things going on around the holidays, but for me, Christmas is about not only being with family, but mainly celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, which is celebrating my religion although it is easy to lose sight of that with all the flashy things pushed by society,” freshman Faith Malki said.
As Villanovans, we only see our families a fraction of the time we spent with them growing up. We are growing up now more than ever and these important moments with family and friends feel like they are slipping away every day. I understand why everyone loves this time of year because I do, too. I look forward to Christmas movies, light shows, gingerbread house building and ice skating. However, the reason I look forward to these moments is not just because I enjoy ice skating or light shows but because of who I am sharing those moments with, especially my new friends here at Villanova. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
