I can’t recall most of the physical gifts I’ve received over the years, so here are my 15 favorite Christmas memories from growing up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey that have nothing to do with presents:
1. Grandma taking me to The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center in NYC every year, and enthusiastically whispering the ballet “translation” into my ear. My favorite part is when the Christmas tree grows.
2. Our family’s traditional Christmas morning meal: Smoked salmon on bagels with cream cheese, a splash of lemon juice, cracked pepper and red onion.
3. Listening to Charlie Williams sing Oh Holy Night in his amazing tenor voice during Lawrenceville School’s Christmas Eve chapel service.
4. Piling into the minivan with dad behind the wheel and seeking out the most over-the-top Christmas decorations in the whole area- of course we saved the house with the radio-synced-light display for the grand finale.
5. Watching our favorite Christmas movies: White Christmas, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, and eventually Love Actually.
6. My favorite TV kid specials: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Snowman (I cry every time).
7. Christmas dinner at my aunt Kate’s, whom I usually only get to see once a year.
8. Christmas Eve dinner: Lamb chops with mint jelly, potatoes, and asparagus.
9. Our neighbors made homemade wassail, and then started to make me my very own jug once they heard I loved it so much.
10. Our huge extended family reunion on my mom’s side of the family the weekend before Christmas, when we all stay in Connecticut and go into NYC for the day to visit the grandparents and have a huge Chinese food lunch at Papa’s.
11. Snuggling by the fire with Cookie, our jack russell.
12. Rereading David Sedaris’s Holidays On Ice every year.
13. Putting on the Julie Andrews Christmas album, and trimming the tree as a family.
14. Being woken up by my little brother Jack: “Liza!! Get up!! Christmas!!!!!”
15. Listening to my four favorite Christmas albums:
- All Christmas music by Sufjan Stevens
- A Charlie Brown Christmas album
- The Nutcracker Suite, performed by the New York City Philharmonic.
- South Park’s Mr. Hankey’s Christmas album (because I refuse to grow up when it comes to South Park).
…Presents? Who needs presents?