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Christmas Challenge ft Acrostic

***December 11, 2021***

**C**hristmas is truly in the air and I could see Christmas decorations and hear Christmas carols everywhere. At shopping centers, supermarkets, malls, and even train stations. The annual Christmas displays on different HK establishments have already been installed, and they would be my next holiday destinations. And to take photos with them of course, as this would be my last Christmas celebration here. **H**olidays wouldn't be complete without this most awaited event of the year. An annual event for everyone where there shouldn't have bitterness, only happiness. This only happens once in a year where everyone remembers Jesus, how he was conceived, His sufferings, His death, and how He came back to Earth. **R**emembering the good old days, the memories brought me back to when I was a kid. During the Christmas season, I was seeing Christmas Belen everywhere, at church, school, and different houses. A young kid still doesn't know the true meaning of the nativity scene portrayed on Christmas Belen.

**I**n my mind, all I knew was, the people on the Christmas Belen were baby Jesus, Mama Mary, Papa Joseph, and the Three Kings. That's how we called the holy family back then. **S**howing love to Jesus, the celebrant, and each other has been part of our annual Christmas tradition, especially for Catholic parishioners, and my mother was still active in church when we were younger. But she became inactive when she had more naughty kids to handle during the day, and she would be exhausted at night, even on weekends. **T**raditionally, she would wake me up very early on Sunday morning so we could catch the first mass. Then we would buy food at the market before heading back home. I still remember how she wants me to wear a dress when going to church. But, I don't like dresses. Or should I say, I wasn't comfortable wearing dresses? **M**y mother also taught us about the holy family and we kids were always excited about the annual baby Jesus kissing on his feet. In our place, every 24th of December, the Pastor, and his sacristan, but most of the time, only the sacristan would go house to house to show baby Jesus doll-like figure to the house family and we would kiss the feet or forehead of Baby Jesus. My mother would then put some money on the donation box for the church after we kissed the Baby Jesus.

**A**fter mass on the 25th of December, we kids would carry plastic bags with us and would roam around the town to collect candies or money from different families, going house to house. And the last stop would be our own village and we would visit our Godmothers/fathers). Some would hide, some were thrifty, while some were generous. **S**pending the rest of the day with the family, and celebrating Christmas with or without food on our table. But our mother would always prepare at least *pansit* (vermicelli) or spaghetti for us, paired with sliced bread and coke. A family with an ordinary life, that small food on the table meant a lot to us.  **C**an you still remember the funny memories during the Christmas season when you were a kid? Seeing Santa riding on his sleigh with the reindeers in television advertisements, I also wished to ride on it and hug the big belly of Santa Claus and receive a gift from him. And adults said that Santa would pass by on the midnight of the 24th, so we kids would look out of the window and would wait for his appearance.

**H**owever, we just fell asleep waiting for Santa to pass by and we never saw the shadow of his sleigh spreading glittering dust in the sky. Until we grew up and realized that all were just lies and adults just gave us false hope and created fantasy stories in our minds. Remembering those memories is fun though.

**A**nd putting socks on or near the window, can you still remember the reason why? As they said, Santa would put his gifts for us in the socks while we were sleeping. And they said that we would receive more gifts from him if we have bigger socks. **L**ively and excited we were in the morning upon seeing the gifts inside our socks. And mostly candies and other wrapped foods. But kids love food and we were so happy with the thought that Santa put it on. Sometimes we would anticipate more, like the pretty toys he gave to the kids we've seen on the television. **L**aughingly, my naughty brother one time broke our happiness when he spilled the beans. He revealed the truth and told us that he saw mama putting candies in our socks at night. We felt sad to learn that Santa isn't true. Yet, still happy to receive some gifts from our own mother. **E**vening Christmas caroling memories are still clear in my mind. I would beg my young uncle to allow me to join his group despite having a *not-so-good* singing voice. Even the song Jingle Bells was sung like "*Jingumbels*." Can you relate? Just imagine me singing, 🎶"*Jingumbels, jingumbels, jingol ol da wey."🎶* Oh don't laugh at me. I know you sang it that way too when you're a kid, lol. (*Grammarly wants me to correct the spelling of jingumbels* 🤣🤣) **N**aughtily, we would sing, "*Thank you, thank you, ang babarat ninyo (you are so niggardly), thank you!*" To those house owners who were not so generous to us and would only give us Php 1 or 2 after singing several Christmas carols. Some would give none and would only tell us, "*Just come back on Christmas day*" after singing all the songs on our list. We exerted efforts though from clapping our hands, playing tambourines, and singing out loud that even the farthest neighbors could hear, just so they would give us generous tips for singing. So we would naughtily call them niggardly and would run so fast away from the house, lol. Then dogs would bark on us and we would scream and run faster, haha. **G**od knows how our hearts raced so fast while being chased by the dogs barking behind us. And we heaved a sigh of relief once we successfully entered our co-group member's house and shut the door. And I know that you have experienced the same as well, haha. **E**ndless memories we had indeed during the Christmas season back when we were kids, and those funny memories are truly indelible. Now, entering adult life, I somehow perceived Christmas differently. Candies and toys aren't valuable for me anymore. But I still anticipate Santa Claus, his sleigh, and the reindeers. Maybe because they symbolized Christmas, along with Baby Jesus. Undeniably, even in adult life, we are still wishing to see real Santa on the street and wanted to take photos with him, hug his big belly, or caress his long white mustache, lol. Those were just some of my childhood memories during the Christmas season. And it would take a plethora of time if I would list them all that are still vivid in my mind, lol. I purposely made this acrostic for @TengoLoTodo Christmas Challenge 2021. However, in the middle of my writing, I read back my story and realized that it doesn't suit as entry to his contest. Besides, I don't have yet his special requirement. Since I started it with acrostic, I continued writing and just I opted to submit this to @gertu13 Christmas Contest as it suits more her contest' theme. https://read.cash/@gertu13/hey-you-this-is-the-promised-christmas-contest-d0bcd659 You guys can join too. Click the link above for more information. I would like to invite @Sel to join this contest. She doesn't know yet what to write for her article. So I guess this topic would help her compose one. Share your Christmas stories with us guys and join the contest. Thanks for reading and happy writing. *©read.cash/@Jane (All Rights Reserved 2021)*

Special shout out to @Eylz2021 for renewing her sponsorship. Thanks sis

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