Merry Christmas

I was very lucky when I was growing up to be able to celebrate both Muslim and Christian holidays. For Christmas, my brothers and I used to make our own decorations for the Christmas tree with the help of my mother. Since my mom only knew of one store that sold Christmas ornaments, we didn’t have a lot so whatever we found for the tree I thought was awesome. My mother loved Christmas. She used to play with her American friends in the Christmas choir at church, and my last memories of Christmas with her was designing the program for her last recital. That day she sang and played the piano. She was really excited with the design and bragged about her daughter around her friends. I was embarrassed at the time and just wanted to crawl away. At the end of the show everybody was applauding her and thanking her. She was looking at me and I was smiling at her. I never appreciated her musical skills until that day.
Almost everyone in Tunisia is Muslim, so I didn’t really get the full Christmas vibe until I moved to the US. I remember my first year here. I was alone, and barely spoke English. I remember taking the bus one day, looking out the window, and being amazed by all the decorations. The houses, the malls, the small stores were so brightly lit. It looked so happy and festive and at the time I was so lonely and depressed. I had a Jordanian English teacher who I loved and was really nice. She asked me if I was going home for Christmas and I said no. She looked really sad and told me that she felt sorry for me and she wished me a happy holiday. She then invited me to spend Christmas with her family.
It has been a while since then. Now I understand what my mother was feeling at Christmas and I love this time of year.

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I’ve been participating in the Secret Santa at work the past couple of years. Usually it is a great experience. You get a present from a coworker without knowing who the giver is.
After receiveing the gift I liked to think about who the person was and what possessed them to get me my gift. One year I got the exact same gift that I gave!
We had our Christmas lunch yesterday. I am sure most people didn’t get any work done. All the conversations were about Christmas shopping etc. The lunch was really great. We all gathered in the cafeteria. There was music, candles, Christmas decorations, a chef with waitresses, shrimp, mashed potatoes, turkey, rice, and Asian dishes. After lunch we went to the lobby where the tree is, and everybody opened their presents. Guess what? I was the only one whose present was not present. I was told that the coworker that had my name was a part time worker and that she would arrive with my gift around 4 p.m that day. I met her in the printer room around 4:30. She recognized me and told me that she was so sorry but she thought the gift exchange was the following day. I guess that’s why Santa needs help from all those elves.

This is one of my most favorite ornaments that my mother in-law made. We have it on our tree and I think it is so lovely. It is made out of a light bulb!!!