I’m on the Snälltåget from Stockholm on my way south. Tomorrow is the first Advent and I have tickets for an Advent concert in Fredrikskyrkan in Karlskrona. Finally I get to hear my sister’s talented church choir live, this time together with the Marine Corps.
We are having my absolute best time of the entire year. I really love most things related to Advent and festivities – December too, anyway (Tobias and I chose to get married in the intervening days, after all). 
I suspect the joy of Christmas is a direct inheritance – my mother Elin was exactly the same. Thanks to her efforts, many of my fondest and fondest childhood memories are connected in some way to Christmas. Mother turned our house into a real winter fairytale with few resources. I lovedand still in love, these weeks of the year. I remember the rustle of secret packages, the smell of freshly baked fluffy cats, freshly ironed Christmas curtains, the stars in the window, flickering candles, my mother’s countless craft projects, overflowing freezers and the beautiful nativity scene. Oh, how much was baked, decorated, swept and polished at home in Spjutsbygd.
Many years later, mother died in early December. We decided to celebrate Christmas early that year. I’m so glad we did that! We had our last Christmas together, a quiet, warm and loving Christmas. Later, when my siblings and I would divide my parents’ belongings, all my first choices were things related to Christmas in some way – usually different types of candlesticks.
After that last Christmas with Mom, the pandemic years followed and nothing was the same as before. Not in a bad way, not at all. Christmas still feels important, sure, but it’s not as special as far as traditions go. One year we went to the ICA on Christmas Eve and let everyone choose exactly what they wanted (which is still the case, apart from one occasion when we missed opening hours and had to order pizza instead). Sometimes we celebrate with family, sometimes with friends and occasionally we travel to snow-capped mountains. The family on my side usually breaks off the Christmas celebrations in July (!) with the Christmas in July summer baluns. Despite several non-traditional traditions, Christmas is still my best holiday and today is the beginning. It makes me so very happy!
What do you think about Christmas? Lift or diss? (Cover image: Sturkö 2017)
#Christmas #holiday #Travel #Friday