Christmas is a joyous time, the time when family meets and spends time together. It is the time when carolers go door to door and sing songs about Christ. But through out my time growing up the meaning of Christmas changed. As a young child, Christmas was about Santa Clause and getting lots of toys. Today, I am older and I am starting to realize the true meaning of Christmas.
Back then, Christmas was then best day of the year. I knew the story about Jesus and his birth because I was forced to go to Sunday school. But at that age, I did not care. All I cared about was if Santa got everything on my list. A week before the big day I would never be able to concentrate in school. I could hardly fall asleep because I was so excited. Then when Christmas Eve came I would always try to stay up to hear Santa on the roof, but I never did. That morning my dad would torture me by telling me how he saw Santa that night. I was up and out of bed by six, waiting patiently by the tree until my parents got a cup of coffee and sat down. I was so hyper that I did not need anything to wake me up. I loved to open presents, it was better than anything I had ever done up to that point. I remember playing with my toys and games for days on end. Then when I got back to school my friend and I bragged about what we got. That was my Christmas as a six year old kid. I was not old enough to see the true meaning of Christmas. .
As I got older Christmas got to be a less of an important day of gift giving. Today it is a season of love, community and family. Christmas is more a time to help one another and to volunteer at the Salvation Army. It is working at your local food pantry so no one becomes hungry. Christmas is a time to spend time with family and eat a ham around the table. Gift giving is only a small part of the true meaning of Christmas. At my age Christmas does not have as much enthusiasm as it did twelve years ago.