Christmas Memory #3 — Looking at Lights

On Christmas Eve, once we were filled up with soup, we always went for a ride in the car to look at lights. We usually took two cars. First it was just me, my Grandma O and my mom. Then when my Uncle John had kids all of us went for the ride.

We would listen to Christmas music as we looked at all the pretty lights people put on their houses while we drove to the cemetary. The cemetary has a spectacular light display every year. On the way in you travel under a “light bridge.” It’s many, many strings of lights hung between two rows of trees. Once inside the cemetary you can see an abundance of light displays. Trees are covered in lights. There are some free standing reindeer and a star. It’s really, really beautiful.

One of the best parts of the cemetary trip is the live nativity scene. Real people and real animals. And you can even pet the animals. It’s always very cold out on December 24th [plus the cemetary light display is always packed], so we didn’t always get out of the car. But sometimes we did. Sometimes we just drove by slowly and rolled down the window to hear the church bells.

After we made our way through the cemetary, we would head back to Grandma O’s house [or Uncle John and Aunt Lisa's in later years]. When we got back to Grandma O’s we saw that Santa had come. The small pile of presents under the tree had turned in to an enormous pile.

We still continue this tradition today. However, now that my cousins and I are grown, most of the family doesn’t want to go in to the frigid cold to look at lights. That’s a little disappointing to me because this is a tradition I have alway cherished. I don’t remember a time when we didn’t go look at lights. And I want my kids to be able to continue with this tradition. So Lee and I and I continue to go out every Christmas Eve even if the rest of the family stays back. We just tell the kids that they will follow shortly. After they’ve all gone potty.

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