Christmas The Whole Year Round

The joke around the campfire is Filipinos tend to celebrate Christmas in every month that ends with “ber”. I tried to confirm this with my family in the Philippines (yes, I truly am an American-Filipino)

My mother was a tried and true, dyed in wool, Filipino who loved Christmastime! She really did. It was no surprise to me that she passed away a week before Christmas in 1997. To our modest family, she was the embodiment of the Christmas spirit.

Seriously.

Dad, Charrina, and I would groan, piss and moan, when it was Thanksgiving Day Weekend, because we knew what promptly … Christmas decorations, music, and more.

Christmas The Whole Year Round

It’s taken me a better part of a decade and a half to figure out why my Mom loved the Christmastime so much. I remembered every year you would have me crawl into the attic to drag down the tree, and decorations on the weekend of Thanksgiving – many of which you made yourself. You would start the Christmas music while we decorated. All very pleasant, but I didn’t realize or understanding the underpinnings here. 

The reason why she loved Christmas so much was the potential for each and everyone one of us to be their best version of ourselves! In fact, it was so you could showcase your best version of yourself and carry that throughout the new year.

This year I’m thinking we should start that thought process and continue it through 2021. Ya know, Christmas The Whole Year Round.

For the years now, I upheld some the Bayne Family Christmas traditions. I started playing music on December 1^st, and kept playing until December 31^st. I continued to watch my Die Hard and Die Hard 2 movies within the month of December. 

Even as I wrap my gifts, and working in retail as an #essentailworker, I am smiling. Yes, I was literally still smiling.

I project COVID-19 will not being “going away” any time soon in 2021. So I am suggesting we celebrate the Christmas spirit, or at least the Christmas feeling, the whole year round.

Whatcha all y’all think?

‘los