Christmas Spirit

It’s been quite a few years since I have been away from my family on Christmas and I was bummed about it most of last week. It made me think a lot about the Christmas spirit, why I love the holiday so much and what it meant to me to be away from family.

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved Christmas and as a non-Christian, I’ve loved it for reasons other than celebrating the birth of Christ. To me, it feels like one of the few times when the world (and by that, I now mean, the western world) stops for a day or two and I can simply enjoy my family, stuff my face with yummy foods and be altogether lazy.

Some of fondest memories of Christmas take me back to being a kid growing up in the middle of nowhere PA. Even at a time when, my family didn’t have much money, and my brother and I received one gift from Santa, and the rest at the after Christmas sales, I remember gathering at my uncle’s on Christmas morning to exchange gifts with my cousins. All of us sitting in a circle, opening our gifts one at a time and oohing and awwing at each other’s gifts. It was the time spent with family that mattered most.

After that, one of my favorite Christmas season’s was my senior year in college – when my roommates and I got a real Christmas tree for our house – my first real tree ever. I loved it! We also went all out that year – buying each other stocking stuffers, loads of candies and small gifts. My family had always done Christmas decorations on a small scale – that year, we went all out. And after that year, I’ve never been happy with a fake Christmas tree.

As I became an “adult” in corporate America, I remember being focused on spending a lot of time in the kitchen – cooking all kinds of new dishes – in a sense to prove that I could be both the working girl and a good wife. It was always a terribly busy time for a corporate associate, but I remember being home and cooking a nice spread. Creating a sense of hearth and home.

In recent years, I have wanted to create new traditions with my family, which includes tree trimming and Christmas cookie baking with my brother and sister in law. With them getting the sap on their hands when putting up the lights (I hate that part, and they are really good at it) in exchange for whatever kinds of cookies they wanted. It’s been really fun having an extra weekend with them to celebrate the holidays.

This year, I definitely felt that gap of spending various parts of the season with them and with friends. Enjoying my traditions.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy my Christmas this year. In fact, it was a lovely weekend – just different.

On Friday, our team at work surprised us with Christmas gifts and we sang carols together in the office. One of my friends from work invited a bunch of us mentor lawyers to his place in New Delhi for dinner. The bubbly was flowing and we all really enjoyed spending time together outside of the office and not talking about work. Saturday, S and I went to the Crown Marriott in Gurgaon for brunch, joining some Australian friends. It was a gorgeous all you can eat, all you can drink buffet. Later, since I couldn’t be in Baltimore, S and I spent the evening watching the Wire. Sunday, S and I met another friend from the office at the Delhi Golf Course – limited to 3000 members – a veritable who’s who of the Delhi elite. It was a great place to people watch – and see peacocks. 4 females and a male dancing with his feathers open to attract them – I’m told it’s good luck. While I won’t turn away from good luck, I know I am already so blessed to be far from home and still be able to enjoy Christmas – making new friends and new memories.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed it with your own particular traditions.