Friday Fun: What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Memory?

[Robert Wen_Cprime_]

Hello everyone! (or at least those of you that haven't gone to "vacation mode" yet)

While the bulk of us are off, ready to make new holiday memories, I'm going to ask you: what is your most cherished holiday memory?

Any holiday is fair game (Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Lunar New Year, you get the idea). It may not be about getting a gift.  It could be about a long-lost reunion, an incredible meal, but something that evokes fond memories.

For me, it was Christmas when I was a kid. One year, "Santa" got me a Batman doll action figure.  My younger brother got Robin, and we got a Batmobile as well.  We spent the rest of the time playing Batman & Robin!

So, what's your cherished memory?

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[Trudy Claspill]

One of my fondest memories was from a time when I was a child (about 12 years old) and my family was struggling financially. We couldn't afford to get a Christmas tree. Instead we got a seedling and put it on top of our television. We strung lights and Christmas cards around the television, and made little ornaments for the seedling. We couldn't really afford to buy presents. Our parents still gave each of us kids some money to buy each other presents. We kids all agreed to skimp a bit on each other so we could pool our money and get gifts for our parents. And we put our gifts around the television stand. 

It is a fond memory because it reminds me of how close our family was and how we could all pull together to make what could've been a very sad holiday into a special family memory.

[John Funk]

Thanks for sharing that @Trudy Claspill !! It's a great reminder to be thankful for what we do have, even when we feel like it is not much. 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ohh, that's a good question.  I've got a lot of memories from holidays and I really can't say that any of them are the "most" memorable.

My parents did (and still do not) do what most people think of as English holidays - they always look for something a bit different, and I've inherited that.  But I am going to try to stick to the question and talk about very memorable holidays.

In age order (so the first item on this list is over 40 years ago)

• I walked into an inn built around 1470 and asked where the dishwasher was
• I caught influenza when I was 8 and spent several days in the remains of a monastery near Ampthill hallucinating.  I thought cow that stuck its head through the kitchen window was a hallucination for years, until my sister told me that she had seen it too (and she wasn't ill)
• I had my 10th birthday in Washington DC during a holiday.  I remember the Smithsonian institute in the morning and then my dad trying to explain to the pizza place that an 18" pizza easily feeds a family of four and we did not want one each.
• A castle gatehouse that has an entire floor given over to a ping-pong table, which we used a lot because it was freezing outside
• Reading the Lord of the Rings (all of it) and napping while propped up against the garrison in the IoS
• Hung around in Great Yarmouth with a large group of good friends, most of whom, still are.
• But probably the most significant one - went to Liverpool for our 5th anniversary, had a couple of beers, then a LOT of cocktails and while "a bit tipsy", suggested that we might try living together. 
  
  This last one does seem to be working out - we did the move years ago, and we got married a few weeks ago.

[Viktoriya Borisova]

I didn't grow up celebrating holidays as much, but as I became closer with two of my friends in high school, I also grew closer with their families - and began to attend their family holiday celebrations!

I have a lot of joyful memories preparing food together before extended family members and other guests would arrive - from making momos on Thanksgiving, to baking cookies on Christmas Eve. : )

I cherish always feeling so welcomed in each home ❤️ 

[Dave Liao]

@Robert Wen_Cprime_ - love this prompt!

As a child, I loved waking up Christmas morning. I could never sleep before the day, and was lucky enough to have a family who bothered with the ritual of gift giving.

Getting older, we all get together to eat a big meal and dispensed with gift-giving, generally. 🤣

[John Funk]

I still vividly remember the Christmas tree each year when the lights were off in our living room and the tree was lit up with different colored lights. It made the whole room glow and it seemed so magical then. 

[Brant Schroeder]

We would go skiing every holiday break and I remember one year where there was a monster storm that dumped 5 feet over a couple of days making for a very memorable trip.  

[Darline Auguste]

Love this question! My favorite holiday memories are those that I've come to appreciate a lot more as I got older. Growing up, we'd all meet in the living room around 10:30/11pm to enjoy soup on New Years eve. My mom would then make us choose our favorite Psalm verse from the Bible (I was raised Catholic) and read it out loud. Then we'd eat oranges (the more seeds you found, the better your year would be) and watch the ball drop on TV. After, we'd just hang out, talking and laughing until we got tired. We didn't have many moments where we were relaxed & all together like that and as we've grown up, spread out, & started our own families, those moments are even more scarce. It's something I've been able to adapt and do with friends when I'm not home. We usually try to find our way to a beach on NYE and reflect on what we're leaving behind & taking into the new year. Means a lot to me and it's something I look forward to every year.

[Johanna Pichotka_APTIS_]

Two memories that come to mind: 

The first one is Christmas when I was very little. I got a playmobil bus and I loved it. I loved playmobil as a kid and this was the first thing I ever got from playmobil. 

And the other one is a family holiday when I was a teen. In Germany we have something called 'Fronleichnam' where we all get Thursdays off and schools are closed on Friday too. And on this weekend we meet up with the family of my dad like everyone all his cousins, uncles and siblings. And me and my cousins slept on the trampoline where we could see the stars at night and just had so much fun together. 

[Dan Breyen]

Celebrating Christmas in New Mexico.  It was dramatically different than in the Midwest.  Luminarias everywhere and being outside w/o the snow or coats.