Tis the season for friends, family, and fantastic food. It’s about reflecting over favorite memories of the Christmas holiday – many of which are sentimental, most of which are immaterial.

To me, gifts received are special and appreciated, but they aren’t what linger as strongly in my mind from year to year as the warm memories made during the season, the simple things that aren’t so tangible.

Each December, the scents of Christmases past come flooding back to mind in a strange potpourri as only Christmas memories can conjure.

It’s a blend of freshly cut pine trees, yuletide Yankee candles, seasonal baked goods and spices from aromatic pies whisked together like the batter of a peach schnapps cake we make each year – but only once because it’s time consuming, super messy and tastes sinfully rich to boot.

In addition to the scents of the season, I also look forward to the music. I wait patiently until the day after Thanksgiving to tune in to heartwarming holiday songs, many of which have been remade time and time again throughout the decades. These tunes – particularly the classics – always take me way back to happy Christmas memories, whether of my parents practicing their choral carols for Michelle Cote Midnight Mass, or memories of my middle sister rocking out to a ‘Feliz Navidad’ mix tape over and over clad in footie pajamas in our living room. And I definitely cannot listen to my favorite – the Boston Pops’ ‘Sleigh Ride’ without recalling all the times I’d rewind a cassette tape over and over again just to hear that swingin’ third verse. It still gives me chills.

In addition to the scents and sounds of Christmases past, my husband, kiddos and I focus on what we love best about Christmas present – the food, the faith, family, friends and fellowship.

Each year, we blend the old with new dining traditions, which make for a fantastically diverse hodgepodge ranging from traditional French- Canadian tourtiere our mothers make to the grilled pizzas my husband and I cook up Christmas day. But no matter what is served at your table, the food serves to not only fill tummies but to bring together family and friends for cozy conversation.

Christmas is bittersweet that way. The lineup of people varies slightly as years pass.

Sometimes, the holiday marks a first for new arrivals. Other years, we quietly mourn those no longer with us.

Another intangible part of Christmas my family and I love most is the fellowship – taking the time to help work as a team to help fellow families among us.

Many organizations need the community’s help year round, and the need is often heightened during the Christmas season. Food and toys are sought for families in need. When everyone participates, a little bit can go a long way. Toys for Tots is a program run by the Marine Corps which distributes new, donated toys to children whose parents cannot buy them Christmas gifts. When we pitch in to donate gifts or food pantry items for those in need, that fellowship becomes yet another piece to the intangible but integral makeup of Christmas ,just as important as the food, family and friends.

And last – certainly not least – is the faith. Last week, my husband and I sat among our school community watching as our older son proudly sang with his pre-K class in their school’s Christmas concert. He stood in the same spot where I’d once stood singing to my family and school community years ago.

The cameras snapping away at the singing kiddos have evolved, the video cameras less bulky, but the words sung sweetly rang just as true this year as it did years before: that Christmas is the birthday of our king.

Indeed, let’s not forget that Christmas at its very core, beneath the red glittery layers, is a pretty important birthday – one so monumental that it marked the turning point in time in which B.C. became A.D.

It’s also the only birthday party in town where everyone but the birthday kid gets to open presents.

Certainly, Christmas includes indulging in favorite seasonal flicks while donning garish sweaters and sharing cups of cheer. I know I gotta have my ‘Meet Me In St. Louis’ fix, and our kiddos do a pretty good pint-size Fred Astaire imitation during ‘Holiday Inn’ screenings.

But beneath the surface, Christmas is much more. Where is Christmas? It’s inside us, it’s in those around us. It’s in festive memories reaching the far back corners of our minds, mixed together like a good cinnamon eggnog blend with what’s truly most important: good food, faith, family, friends and fellowship.

Not one of those things arrives via FedEx, and friends and family certainly aren’t found crammed ’neath a tree.

That would be awkward.

The true spirit of Christmas is in recognizing Christ’s birth and honoring it by giving generously of ourselves to others with our time, friendship and food – especially the food. Can you tell I’m hungry while writing this?

And I’d like to think the birthday boy himself would say something similar.

After all, he loved food too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a hankering for peach schnapps cake. Better get baking.

Merry Christmas to all!

— Michelle Cote is the art director of the Journal Tribune. She enjoys cooking, baking, and living room dance-offs with her husband, two boys and a dog. She can be contacted at mcote@journaltribune.com.

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