This Christmas, we asked you to share your favourite, most memorable holiday stories for a chance to win a gift card from Royal City Nursery. You did not disappoint! Here are your hilarious, touching holiday memories:
“My family has always been real-tree people. When I was growing up, my older sister was already away at university and would only come home at Christmas. We would always wait to decorate the tree until she showed up so we could do it as a family. To this day, the smell of a fresh Christmas tree reminds me of being an excited nine-year-old, watching out the window for her car to pull up. Coincidentally, all these years later, she now lives on a Christmas tree farm!”
“Eggs Benedict Christmas morning breakfast at my grandmother’s.”
“My birthday is the week before Christmas—not the best time of year to have a birthday, some might say. But when I moved out of my parents’ house and lived on my own for the first time, I figured out how to combine both special occasions by having a Christmas tree decorating party for my birthday. I didn’t own any tree ornaments yet, so I asked all my friends to give me an ornament as a birthday gift. Then, when they came to my party, they helped me decorate my tree with their gifts! I still use the ornaments they gave me, and each year, when I decorate my tree, I’m reminded of both this favourite Christmas memory and all my dear friends who were part of it.”
“Our most recent memorable Christmas was 2018 when our youngest daughter was born. We call her our unexpected Christmas miracle.”
“Christmas is all about the chaos, the connections, and making memories. One of my favourites was when my husband and I decided to do an impromptu Magnum, P.I. Christmas at my parents’ place. We showed up with Hawaiian flower leis and pictures of Magnum, Higgins, and T.C. so we could do Magnum selfies.”
“One year, my grandparents were spending Christmas in California, and my parents decided we would drive down from Alberta to join them. We made it in three days. What a drive! One day we drove 18 hours, and for a lot of the drive time, my older sister was kicking me off the seat and making me sit on the floor. Despite all this, it was a magnificent trip, and we had a great time.
Before we left, we had watered our Christmas tree to the brim, but that wasn’t enough for it to survive while we were gone. When we got back, every single needle had fallen off the tree! It was a complete skeleton except for the lights and ornaments, which were still hanging on for dear life!”
I’d like to “wrap it up” (pun intended) by telling you about my favourite Christmas memories:
My dad’s side is Danish, and my grandparents immigrated when Dad was 10 or 12 at most. Because of our Danish heritage, we have some grand, elaborate Christmas traditions. For years and years, our Christmas actually started four weeks before the big day, on the first Sunday in Advent, with Dad building a wreath filled with four candles: one to light on each of the successive Sundays of Advent.
It all built up to Christmas Eve, which used to be at my grandparents, but is now hosted by one of my cousins or me. Here’s everything we pack in:
Christmas was and is not a one-day thing at my house… It is months long. In the ’80s, when we added the Christmas department, our Christmas went from being four weeks to six months long. I like it and believe in it. Christmas is not a day; it is a feeling. Santa is very real—he is a spirit in the heart that we, as adults, can still feel when it is quiet at night and it’s just us, the dogs, a glass of wine, and a single candle lit on the tree in memory of those who can’t be with us right now.
I hope you make more favourite memories this Christmas. Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us at Royal City Nursery!
