Think About It

What are some of your most special holiday memories? While I do remember a few gifts, some of my most important memories involve more of who I was with than what I got. Our family often lived quite a ways away from the rest of the family, but periodically, we would travel back to South Florida for Christmas. (Even to this day, my thought a White Christmas is more about sand than snow.) We would spend Christmas Eve with my Mom’s family and Christmas Day with my Dad’s parents. More often than not, the Christmas Day dinner involved traditional fare, but Christmas Eve was highlighted by fresh fish and oysters. There were Christmas cookies and holiday cakes at the Schurmann gatherings and egg nog (made with ice cream) at the Whartons. There were a lot of people (and a bunch of kids) at one place and often it was just our family at my other grandparent’s house. Fifty years later, I can still remember waiting our turn to unwrap the presents that sat under the metallic tree at one place and t