What I remember the most about Xmas in general is:

1. the smell of Xmas- to me, this will always be a mix of fresh pine, candle wax and spices (from grandma’s honey bread!)
2. the soft glow of a candle-lit tree…nothing really can compare…and, yes, I still chuckle at that time the tree caught fire…Sis and I and Dad run to the kitchen to get water in some buckets…of course, we filled them to the brim…of course, we splashed it all over…of course, we ALL slipped!...and, yes, Grandma to the rescue, she took the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket and poured the water on the tree! (it was still a VERY small fire!)…nowadays, I put up a fake tree (but I made sure it looks “real”) and white lights only…I got one of those strings that have different “motions” and always chose the setting where the lights turn on and off one by one, really slowly…I’ve found this one is the one that closest resembles the candlelight!
3. The FOOD…Mom had a host of eating disorders (they weren’t called that, though, Mom had “a nervous stomach”, which either prevented her from eating or made her throw up if upset….so, food was all-important at our house!- and, believe me, she was a MARVELOUS cook!...we alternated turkey and ham for the holidays, either turkey for Xmas and ham for New Year or vise versa…of course, there had to be HUGE amounts of it…you could eat leftovers from Xmas at breakfast, lunch, teatime and dinner right up until Dec 31st noon!...including dessert! – to this day, one of the things that make sis sad on Xmas is that we cannot have all the luxurious foods my parents used to have (not being a fan of caviar, olives or truffled pate, I really don’t mind!- although I did later learn to like the pate…but I didn’t touch it in my childhood!)
4. The ritual of it all…Dad would wake us up at 7:30 on the 24th, so we could decorate the tree…Mom would start cooking right after breakfast…at around 6:00pm, Mom, sis and I would leave to pick up the grandma’s (I was blessed with a grandma and greataunt, but we didn’t call either of them that, they were just Nanamia and Nina and, I think I was about 11 when I finally understood that they were sisters in law, not “real” sisters!)…when we got back, the house would be all dark, except for the living room, where Dad had lit the candles on the tree…he would have traditional German Christmas songs playing (Vienna Boys Choir)…and, SANTA had arrived while we were out!!!...so there were tons of presents under the tree!
5. We also had another big Xmas family get-together, which was held at grandma’s, at lunch time, on the 24th….the main dining room was for grown-ups only…the next generation had to sit on the staircase and have their lunch there!- we loved it!...and one of our favorite games was to slide down the stairs –no, not the banister, the STAIRS…ouchie!)
6. We were the only kids on the block that were not allowed fireworks on Xmas (Thank you, Dad! Thank you, Mom!)...while I love watching them, I hate it that here people buy them for their children…every year kids get maimed and even killed!...we already have 24 kids in the National Children’s hospital this year….
7. But, above all, what I remember the most was the LOVE we all felt for each other…
8. Do I remember any of the presents? Of course I do….I got a “grow up” Skipper doll…and I also remember a Xmas when I spent all my Xmas money on BOOKS!!!...it seemed (to me) there were hundreds of them!...I even remember that one of them was the Brehmen Musicians!- and there was an adventure book on miners in the Yukon!