Some of the reasons I loved Christmas were getting to spend time with my family members that we had not seen in some time, going to church on that day as a family, getting dressed up and looking pretty.
Some of the reasons I loved Christmas were getting to spend time with my family members that we had not seen in some time, going to church on that day as a family, getting dressed up and looking pretty.
This was a tradition we grew up knowing very well and we even enjoyed it because it was fun.
As I grew older and met different kinds of people, I realised that some were very unfortunate and did not celebrate this amazing day. Some of my own family members enjoyed Christmas Eve more than the actual day of Christmas because they claimed that Christmas day celebrations were for white families; as if black people did not celebrate it.
I asked myself a number of questions when it came to this saga like: Is it because most of the black South African families don't put up trees and lights to celebrate this day?
Or is it because they simply cannot afford to spend that much money on Christmas day alone? Is it because they don't care?
Or maybe it is simply because they prefer to celebrate it differently. When I asked a couple of friends about this it was clear to me that they had different views and opinions about how to celebrate Christmas.
It also raised the issue of whether people believe in Santa Clause.
I remember one of my friends telling me she disliked Christmas:
"I hate Christmas simply because when I was a kid I wrote so many letters to him [Santa] and sent those to this address that was advertised on TV but I never got any of the stuff I asked from him.
Now that was when I was a kid and I believed in those stupid things, but that killed the spirit of Christmas for me and celebrating it is just a waste of time."
At this point I knew how passionate she was about this topic and I wondered how many more like her are in the world.
Is Santa the bad guy here? Or are parents not doing Santa justice?
I guess we"ll never really know as things change from generation to generation.
