Christmas gives us a chance to reconnect
What Christmas Means To Me
It wasn’t Christmas until the white tree came down. This was obviously a plastic tree taking-up permanent residence over a cupboard for most of the year but come December, it would stand in our hall.
Ashan with his wife
I still remember decorating and finding presents under it on Christmas morning when I was little. A real Xmas tree on occasion stood-in for our white one, filling the hall with a fantastic aroma.
After a few days though, the tree was a bit of a pain when it shed dried-up twigs. Huddling around a Christmas tree, dolling it up somehow continues to be significant today.
My wife and I like to get our tree decorated by the first or second week of December. There’s planning involved here. There’s also very early spring cleaning. It’s the time we get to take our scheduled leave so we like to change things around.
Drapes, linen and home improvement keeps us busy but relaxed.Arriving at a general consensus as to the colour scheme for each year’s Christmas décor takes some serious discussion.
We enjoy the whole process though, and take a break from our phones and thinking about work when we put-up the tree.
Draping the tree with tinsel and lights is in fact a ritual I repeat at my mother’s place, we still put up the tree like we have for the past 20 something years.
Back when my wife and I were dating, I spent a festive weekend with her parents helping out with the tree. So the tree itself is a significant part of my Christmas.
ChristmasEve is usually family-time because it’s my dad’s birthday. We have a Christmassy birthday celebration, for the entire lot or we take trips together.
During years when we decide to keep the party at home, I accompany my wife to midnight mass, later-on to celebrate two birthdays.
Pic courtesy - Ashan Jayatilaka. Ashan with his family during Christmas
Most of my earliest recollections of the season involve food. My mother would generally go all-out with food, along the lines of Western menus like a whole roast chicken with stuffing.
Through the years Christmas and what it means has changed. Presents were interesting to find under the tree on 25th as a child but they’re no longer featured in my favourite part of the season. It’s more about a much needed break from a hectic schedule.
Christmas gives us a chance to reconnect. People we’re comfortable with or hold close are often those we spend little time with.
The gives us a chance to reach- out of our tight routines and catching-up with them, even if only to say “Hey, just because I haven’t called you that much or been around for a while, we haven’t forgotten about you.”
-VP