Your Hometown Connection 12/24/09

Christmas time. It’s my favorite part of the year.

My family has always made it a tradition to be together on Christmas Eve. For as long as I can remember my grandparents, mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered together on Christmas Eve in LeRoy. Tradition is a beautiful thing. Things of course have changed over my 31 years, but the theme has always remained the same. Our family is together to celebrate Christmas.

I remember during my childhood Christmases hoping the pile of presents would be higher then the previous year. There are photos next to the Christmas tree where I am shorter than the mountain of gifts. I’m not sure when it was exactly I realized the mountain of gifts didn’t matter. It was the people near that mountain. It was probably after Christmas 1998—my last Christmas with both my grandparents.

Our Stern Christmas traditions aren’t that much different than other families: Go to church. Gather together at home. Eat a lot. Have Santa come. Eat some more. Open gifts. Eat a little more. Go home. Between all that, it’s family conversation that ties generations together and carries on our traditions.

This column is dedicated to Christmas. Nothing fancy. Nothing on sale. No one telling you to buy this or that. The real Christmas. The right Christmas. The Christmas I think all should experience and love. If you truly believe in Christmas go to church. And listen. Faithfully listen.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
Charles Dickens

“Something about an old-fashioned Christmas is hard to forget."
Hugh Downs

“There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."
Erma Bombeck

“At Christmas, all roads lead home."
Marjorie Holmes

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness."
Bob Hope

“I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world."
Norman Vincent Peale

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly."
Andy Rooney

“As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is."
Eric Sevareid

“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves."
Eric Sevareid

“The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much.”
Henry David Thoreau

“Nothing's as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas.”
Kin Hubbard

“A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; it makes no noise at all, but softly gives itself away; while quite unselfish, it grows small.”
Eva K. Logue

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”
Charles Schulz

“He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.”
Sunshine Magazine

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke