Christmas Events and Traditions!
I asked many of you this past week which Christmas or holiday events or traditions over the years stood out in your mind. There were some surprising answers.
“Bring a Ring.” Two families for years got together but with family only. No boyfriends or girlfriends allowed. That is until one young man outside the family got down on his knees at the gathering and asked for his girlfriend’s hand in marriage.
Every year Uncle So and So brings his own bottle of Jack Daniels and gets snockered.
I let my children decorate the tree because my parents never let me. So until they grew up, only the bottom half of the tree was decorated.
We eat Chinese food every Christmas Eve.
(Did You Know? My own story is that when my eldest daughter was about five she wanted a pony. After opening the presents Christmas morning she was disappointed to not get one. A couple of hours later she was looking out the front window and saw a pony in our front yard. Unfortunately for her it came from a neighbor and needed to be returned.)
A Heimlich maneuver was needed for someone choking on ham during Christmas dinner.
An uncle decorates his artificial tree with real birds that he shot while hunting.
A sister was involved in an auto accident. When she realized she was fine, turned off the radio because she didn’t want anyone to know she was listening to Michael Bolton.
Lastly, and perhaps most poignantly, a patient said that she and her family have celebrated the twelve days of Christmas by doing random acts of kindness. They discussed them in the evenings afterward. She said that children need to be taught the feeling associated with selfless giving.
In the spirit of the season perhaps we should all try to do more random acts of kindness. Let a car come in front of you, open a door for someone, or just wish someone season’s greetings.
Merry Christmas and Joyous Holidays,
Peter McKenna, M.D.
513.793.5772
www.mckennamd.com
McKenna Cosmetic Surgery Center . 10577 Montgomery Road . Cincinnati . OH . 45242
