For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior ...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."

"Christmas day is in our grasp,
So long as we have friends that last."

"Long lay the world in sin and ere repining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth."

"Christmastime is here,
Happiness and cheer
Oh, that we could always see such spirit through the year."

"I'll be home for Christmas--you can count on me.
Please have SNOW and mistletoe and presents on the tree."

To my family and friends far away this holiday season:  I'm thinking of all of you!  I miss you, and I hope that your holiday season is as wonderful as mine always is when I go home.

And now, my soapbox on the Christmas spirit ...

Please don't be cranky about the holidays.  Yes, Christmas is getting over-commerialized.  Yes, it seems like the stores are rushing to get their Christmas displays up just as soon as they take down the Back to School department.  Christmas specials on TV are becoming far too PC.  Schools are hardly celebrating Christmas because they have to worry about offending other religions.  It is so easy to become cynical, to forget the magic that Christmas had to offer when we were children.  What better way to end the year than to spend it with family?

Not everyone is as lucky as me, I suppose.  Even when we didn't have money in the family (and even an 8-year-old knows that if there are oranges in her stocking, then money must have been tight), we made the most of the season.  My sister and I had Christmas stockings for our Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, which we faithfully filled on several Christmas Eves.  My mom's side of the family ran a tight gift exchange for years.  My Prater grandparents still have us all over for Christmas dinner and gifts.  Both sets of grandparents continue to overwhelm the entire family with generosity, even as we add more "children" through marriage and births.  We attend midnight masses most years.

To me, Christmas has always meant family.  OK, it is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus; I have never been in doubt of that.  But the most important part of Christmas was always the time with my family.  The second most important part to me is the giving spirit.  My mother likes to tell a story of how, when I was about 10 years old, I took a child's name from one of those trees like you see in Kmart, then was so embarrassed to ask for help getting a gift that I waited until the last day to bring a gift before asking.  I always spend too much money at Christmas, but that is not because I feel I have to make up for inadequacies during the rest of the year, not because I have a guilt complex, and not because I have the money to spend.  I do it because it is the one time of year that I can get away with a little extravagance for my family and other loved ones.

So please, do not harbor negative feelings toward Christmas.  It may be the popular thing to do lately, but many of us still enjoy a good old-fashioned Christmas with a few modern conveniences.  Please do not bring us down.  Please allow us to enjoy another season of love, charity, and most of all, peace.