Grant Stumpf, Senior

With a global population of 7,829,394,220, it stands to reason that not everyone celebrates Christmas the same way. Besides the obvious fact that most of those people don’t celebrate Christmas at all, those of us that do, have developed traditions over time. 

For me, Christmas has always been a time to spend with family. Not extended family and those weird cousins you see once a year, but the people in your house. Christmas is a time to appreciate those you are closest to and to demonstrate that appreciation through means of sparkly boxes with bows. 

The next traditional celebration is the antithesis of the last example. This Christmas consists of relatives from all over coming together to celebrate under one roof. This can be nice when you have people come from out of state that you don’t see very often. It is clear to see that this is a popular tradition by the influx of air travel in the holiday season alone. My personal problem with this type of holiday celebration is the struggle of getting the gifts home. Opening up a new game or toy isn’t as much fun when you have to pack it up in the car and make your way home before you get to use it. 

The final way to celebrate the holidays is by giving back. I’m not talking about dropping your spare change into the bucket next to the Santa that’s standing outside of Dillions. I’m talking about those people that recognize the less fortunate and spend their time handing out presents or serving food at the homeless shelters. I’m talking about the people that would rather put together meals at the food bank to hand out on Christmas day than stay home and celebrate quietly with family. These people are the true light of the Christmas season and without them, millions of people would watch Christmas come and go with indifference. Because of these people, children who would have otherwise detested Santa and his jolly ways will get toys to play with this year. 

Christmas is celebrated by over two million people every year. Each of these people has their own way of celebrating and without those traditions the holidays wouldn’t be the same. No matter if you bake cookies for Santa or wear matching pajamas, Merry Christmas.