The Eve of Christmas

I think perhaps on some subconscious level I wanted to get married on Christmas Eve. I thought it was due to my aim to please and coincidental timing of my family coming to visit, but I'm glad it worked out the way that it did. Growing up, Christmas Eve was always better than Christmas. We were able to open up all of our presents when the clock struck midnight on Christmas morning and we would stay up to do so. Mom would cook dinner, Dad would be shoveling snow and making sure the Christmas lights were in order while we kids cleaned the house, sneaking glimpses of the presents under the tree. Mom would help us wrap each others' presents, hot chocolate and pumpkin pie permeated the house. It was warm and cozy on the inside while outside the snow was falling silently, not a person in sight, I don't remember it ever really raining on Christmas Eve. It was like magic. Everyone doing their part, all the kids playing elves while Mom and Dad portrayed the Clauses coming up with games for us to play, guessing what we had gotten for Christmas.

It felt like the longest joyful day of the year. We'd stay up and watch Charlie Brown's Christmas always laughing at his Christmas tree, anticipating midnight. One Christmas we even got to have a tiny tree that lit up on the dresser, it acted as night light as well, which was awesome since I was super afraid of the dark!

Mom and Dad would sit on the couch, kids around the tree, and Jovanny, my brother, would pass out the presents, reading the tags on the boxes. We know how Mom painstakingly wrapped the gifts so we stifled our excitement just a little to show her how much we appreciated her, she'd then in turn tell us to rip it open. Present after present was opened and we were allowed to play with them until the wee hours of the morning. By late afternoon on Christmas day we'd all be gathered around the kitchen table eating pastries and more hot chocolate.

Christmas Eve lasted forever in our minds and I thank my parents for that awesome tradition, I plan to pass it along to my children. My wedding day was similar to those days, seemed to last forever, magical, loving. Of course there was drama and time constraints and missing pieces but the magic was there as I was surrounded by loved ones. With my hubby waiting for me at the end of the aisle I knew that that Eve of Christmas rivaled them all as I was given the gift of matrimony and the unconditional love that would last forever.