Home is Where the Heart Is

I grew up having Christmas in the same house, same room, with the same people, every year. In fact, there was only one year after my memories stuck, the year I was 5, that we traveled at Christmas. The years from age 6 to age 24 were all spent in Hayward, waking up in my bed, opening gifts with my immediate family. Some years, even Christmas dinner was only the 5 of us, if the extended family who lived nearby were out of town.

As much as I treasured the stability of tradition and loved our Christmas days, I'm glad that my kids have grown up with a more flexible outlook. The first few years, it was from necessity. We moved houses, and some years, states, 7 times in the first 5.5 years of our marriage, which included the first years of our oldest two kids lives. Christmas, even if it was spent at home, was in a new place each year. And those years, we also traveled every other year, to my parents home in Colorado, or to my in-laws in California.

Life has been a little more stable in the years since. We have lived in our current home for the last 7 Christmases, and we have only traveled one of those years, but that year is one of the favorites in the kids' memories. 3 different Christmas celebrations as we spent 3 weeks driving over 4,000 miles to visit family in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The kids loved getting to see so many aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents, that it was well worth the hassle of bringing Christmas with us and planning a long road trip at the busiest time of year. I wish we weren't all so spread out so we could have more of the big family gatherings at this time of year.

Even the years we stay here, it isn't always the same group. Many years, my mom and brother spend Christmas with us. One year, we were lucky enough to have my other brother and his wife out as well.  This year, for the second time since we moved across the country from all our family, we will be having Christmas with only the 5 of us, just how I grew up celebrating.

No matter where we are for Christmas day, as long as we are with the people we love, it feels like Christmas.