One deep breath and the wonderful smell of Evergreen pine, cinnamon and mom’s homemade snickerdoodle cookies invigorate you just enough to slip off your coat and shoes. The crackling fireplace burns as it warms your cheeks and nose.
You plop down on the sofa and stare at the oversized stockings hanging from the mantle. As the stuffed Santa Claus dances and sings in the corner, the soft
glow of the colored Christmas tree lights lull you to sleep, dreaming of a white Christmas.
Ahhh Christmas! A holiday brimming with traditions that have been carried
out for centuries.
“Tradition is a big thing with my family, said Krystle Williams, freshman
Elementary Education major. All the family gets together and we eat, sing
carols and open gifts.”
Tradition plays a huge role in nearly everyone’s holiday activities.
Whether its common, like decorating the Christmas tree, or your own special
family tradition, like racing around your house in your pajamas to see who
opens the first gift, the holidays are wrapped in tradition.
The word Christmas comes from the words “Christ’s Mass,”
which means that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Adjunct Librarian Edith Pequeño’s
family used the true meaning of Christmas to create their own tradition.
“We have a tradition in our family to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. We
actually have a real birthday party with a cake, and we sing happy birthday
and our small children blow out the candles,” said Pequeño. “We
always invite some less fortunate people, and we have a big dinner, read the
Christmas story from the Bible and finish with a prayer.”
Josh Knudsen, a sophomore History Major, said, “My favorite Christmas tradition
is each week before Christmas we would do a Bible lesson on the events that
led up to Christmas.”
An old German tradition involves pickles. Yes, pickles. Families would decorate
the tree on Christmas Eve and the last ornament put on the tree was the pickle
ornament. The parents would hide it deep in the tree, and whichever child found
it first received an extra gift from St. Nick.
“We do this with my in-laws. They lived for many years in Germany,”
said Sharon Carson, Coordinator of Workforce Education, at Palo Alto.
“Getting together with the family is my favorite part about Christmas,”
said Javier R. Aguirre, President of Faculty Senate. “We have a special
present every year and draw numbers to see who gets it. Last year my niece got
the biggest pair of panties you have ever seen!”
There is nothing like Christmas to bring out the kid in all of us. From “Silent
Night” to “Rock’n Around the Christmas Tree,” music has
a way of taking us back.
“The music is my favorite part about Christmas,” said Bill Hicklin,
sophomore History Major. “It’s the only time I can listen to goofy
music and not get made fun of.”
Many Mexican-American families have a tradition of making homemade tamales.
Teresa Galvan, a secretary in the Counseling and Support Services Department,
gets together with her mom and two sisters two days before Christmas to make
tamales from scratch.
Although many holiday traditions have a Christian focus, not all holiday traditions
have religious meaning or are centered on Christmas.
