Celebrating Christmas when family is far away

 ​Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and remains so today. Part of it is the keeping of the traditions which I grew up with in my native Hungary.
The season begins with either the first Sunday in Advent or St. Nicholas Day on December 6th, whichever comes first. An advent wreath is made up of pine boughs, decorated with small ornaments and four candles - one for each Sunday in Advent. The wreath is then hung from the dining room chandelier, if practical or simply laid in the middle of the dining room table. 
A candle is lit each Sunday in memory of loved ones gone, as well as thinking of the coming of the birth of Christ. Children get advent calendars with 24 windows, one to be opened every day from December 1st to Christmas Eve. My grandkids received these well into their teens and always loved them.
The next celebration is St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. There are several variations of the St. Nicholas story. The one I grew up with is that he was a Dutch bishop who loved children and gave them gifts. This was elaborated some by adding a devil-type creature (Krampus in German speaking countries) who accompanied him to be sure only well-behaved children got gifts. The gifts were usually candy or apples or dried fruit. The naughty children received coal and onions! Children left their shoes out by the front door and the gifts or coals and onions were deposited in the shoes to be found next morning. The house is decorated for St. Nicholas Day.

Our tree doesn’t go up before Christmas Eve. As a child, the story was that we had to go take a nap and not peak as the baby Jesus was helping mom to put up and decorate the tree. I could do this until the age of five and then I had to peak. It was a bit disappointing to not see baby Jesus, just mom doing the decorating. The tree then remained only for the 12 days of Christmas.
Now our grandkids are grown and we don’t see them regularly around Christmas, but I still follow the same tradition and love to see the house transformed into the magic of the season. We put lights and garlands outside and it’s fun to see if anyone else in our neighborhood does the same.
The first few years of Christmas in Grenada were a bit strange, as hot sunny weather was not what we were used to, but now I don’t miss the snow and I love this time of year with cool breezes. How do you celebrate Christmas? Please share in the comments

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