It’s almost Christmas! I just love this time of year. The holiday lights and the Christmas decorations just make me smile. But is hard to believe that Christmas is here already. 2020 has been an interesting year to stay the least. I hope you stay safe and enjoy your families and friends this holiday season. We will be celebrating Christmas with Gram and the fam.

It is Christmas and the holiday season so it’s time for family traditions. Because we are Polish, we have long had the tradition of making pierogies and then celebrating Wigilia on Christmas Eve. When I was younger, we always went to my grandparents’ house for Christmas Eve dinner then we would go to Midnight Mass to hear my grandparents sing in the choir. They both loved singing and had amazing voices. Too bad that trait didn’t get passed on to me 🙂 (as some of you have heard). But no matter how many pierogies we made (a lot or a little), somehow they always held up dinner. Everything would be ready… the cream of mushroom soup, the sweet potatoes (which I did not like), the mashed potatoes, the corn, and the beer-battered haddock from the freezer section, but we couldn’t eat because someone was still on the skillet warming up the pierogies. I remember thinking there has got to be a better way. I will let you know when we figure it out 🙂 We also broke Oplatek (Christmas wafers) hugged each other and wished each other a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Although we still have many of the same traditions, we have added a few twists. Christmas Eve is still at Grandma’s house, but Grandma is now my mom and she lives in Richmond. We are teaching my niece and nephew to make pierogies although I think they like playing in the dough and flour more than actually making the pierogies but Gram, also known as Babcia to the great-grandkids, supervises and tells us what to do.

We have kept the tradition of having everyone over to grandma’s house. However, the kids are allowed to open their gifts from us and from my mom.  This is another new twist as my sister and I were never allowed to open one gift before Christmas morning. We still make a meatless dinner and it’s still the pierogies that hold us up and usually make us late for church, even though we don’t go to Midnight Mass anymore.

Another twist we added was lobster tails. Several years ago, my Grandpa suggested we get them for Wigilia, and ever since then, our family meal has changed. Now we have fresh salmon, shrimp scampi, lobster, mushroom or broccoli cheese soup, and some type of vegetable, and my brother-in-law’s family is in charge of dessert. Although it may not be the traditional Polish meal, it is ours, and I love it.

Another fun tradition we started was driving around to see the lights on the Tacky Light Tour. My grandfather LOVED it. He could not believe the number of lights people would put on their houses. More recently, we have driven through the Illumination. The kids have so much fun hanging out of the windows listening to the music and watching the lights dance.

Even though Christmas can be sad at times because you miss the loved ones that are no longer here on Earth as you read in “Signs From Heaven“, it is still a time to celebrate family, the birth of Jesus, and be thankful for what you have. Whatever holiday you celebrate this winter, cherish your loved ones and enjoy your time around them. What traditions do you and your families have? Please share with us!