As the 25th of December approaches, houses all over Eastvale are getting ready all over with glowing trees inside and decorations out. There are many different kinds of traditions people practice, from decorating to baking, buying gifts or even travelling. Because it’s only once every year, the holiday season causes this kind of traditional excitement and joy within many people, causing both nostalgia and excitement for the times to come.

The extent of my practice of traditions for the holiday season extends to decorating my house. It’s very fun, because of how different and cheerful it makes everything look. As a kid, I’d never celebrated Christmas. I remember how excited many other kids would get at the mention of it, while it eluded my reality as a forgotten dream. I didn’t understand why they’d gotten so excited over the idea of Santa who I’d never believed in, and I would laugh and roll my eyes internally as they recounted stories of their dads dressed up with a bag of gifts. I had learned when I was young, that when Jesus was first born, it was around a time during which shepherds would guard their sheep in the night outside, which couldn’t have been during the dead of winter on the 25th. While this may still be debated today, and I certainly don’t uphold the disbelief of Christmas now, back then it helped to completely keep enthusiasm and inclination to the holiday from my mind.

This is partly why I appreciate it so much more today. Too much to go into now, there is an absolute plethora of reasons why that special time of the year can be dear to many. The communion it offers, the cheer, the wonder, and the surety of knowing it will come every year, are to name a few broad reasons. To get a look at traditions with other students, I asked a few what they do during this special time of year. ERHS Senior Daniel Peters says, “I open presents in front of everyone then we have a feast with our relatives.” These are two very popular traditions, as the giving of gifts highlights the values of selflessness and symbolizes the rewards for good merit or work done the year past. Daniel goes on to explain, “I feel like it brings us closer as a whole when we’re together for Christmas since we don’t see our relatives as much as we used to.”

I also asked a Junior at ERHS what she likes doing this time of year. She wanted to be anonymous, but explained that “(she) loves baking cookies and deserts with my mom so I can share them with my relatives at dinner, we have a big dinner with them every year.” Christmas can serve as a time of people coming together to celebrate the joys of a done year and more to come.