Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of year.  I’m agnostic and not religious, but Christmas has a simple message that I can appreciate.  When it comes down to it, the point of Christmas is peace and goodwill.  How can you go wrong with that?  Yes, it is celebrating the birth of Jesus, but too many non-religious people interpret celebrating Jesus’ birth as a representation of Christians believing everyone else is going to burn in hell.  The holiday, to me anyway, is much less about celebrating the birth of a man than it is about celebrating the simple message the man represented: that we should strive to be good people and care about others.  That’s all.  Forget all that fire and brimstone crap, everyone should be on board with that sentiment.

And then there’s the nostalgia factor.  Remember how exciting and magical Christmas was as a child?  Sleepless nights thinking about Santa Claus, wondering whether or not it would snow (it did every once in a while for me growing up), listening to holiday music (the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album was a staple in my household).  Family, friends, parties full of cheer and trees decked out with multicolored lights and clever ornaments.

Some of my most vivid memories are waking up early on Christmas morning while it was still dark and tiptoeing downstairs to see if Santa had come.  Then I’d grab my stocking and wait very impatiently for my parents to get out of bed.

I hope you create some lasting memories yourself this year and for years to come.

Merry Christmas!