Christmas Memories
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer
In just a few short days it will be Christmas. The purpose of my email this week is to encourage you to take some time and really build some memories. As I reflected on this email two Christmas memories came to mind.
The first memory is actually one that my grandmother shared with my Dad. Grandma was born in 1900 and was in her mid-teens during the First World War. Her family had a small bakery in Europe very close to the front lines. Grandma told of a Christmas Eve when her family decided to take fresh bread to the troop trains. After Christmas, she heard that on Christmas Eve a ceasefire had been called so that the troops could enjoy the night in relative safety. During the evening, troops began singing Christmas carols, and as the evening went on men who were enemies came out of their trenches and spent time together exchanging whatever they had as gifts. When the ceasefire ended, the troops had to be moved. They couldn’t fight each other anymore.
One of my favorite Christmas memories occurred about fifteen years ago. My siblings and their families all came back to Syracuse for Christmas. My parents had moved into a house in Westvale and started making friends with several neighbors. One evening, just before Christmas, my dad suggested we go caroling. By this time all my nieces and nephews were old enough to sing, and we had quite a nice group. With Mom and Dad, we were nineteen people. We went from house to house, and my favorite stop was to a Muslim family whom my dad had befriended shortly after September 11th. They were so glad to see us, and when we had finished singing, they shouted out a hearty “Merry Christmas.” It was quite an evening.
What memories will you make this year? What memories will you share with your family from years gone bye? Join Marisa and me on The Next Page podcast as we share some of our favorite Christmas memories.
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