I recall it well - opening the sweet aromatic clementine on Christmas morning, the skin just falling off the ripe, juicy and often seedless piece of fruit. Many scents are associated with Christmas time but for me it is the clementine/tangerine, also giving a healthy start to the morning before overloading on the 'selection box'. The clementine would be in the stocking along with amusing little objects like a yo-yo, a leap frog and playing cards.
Never questioning the presence of this sweet fruit I recently read that it represents the generosity of Saint Nicholas.
"When we were kids, we were happy with an apple, an orange and a tuppence" my parents would claim.
On Christmas morning my brother and I would be surrounded with gifts, stocking fillers and cards and even then there was a strong sense of appreciation and wonder.
Years later trying to recapture that sense of wonder and surprise proves difficult, as times have changed, challenges have been presented and Christmas had lost its magic in our family for a while but last year was special - it felt like contentment. In no hurry, we exchanged a few gifts, drank hot chocolate and stayed in pyjamas for a good while.
Pulling the cork on a bottle of sparkly at midnight 24/25th has become the 'norm' in our home, it never feels indulgent but very family orientated, as if the gesture says 'we made it through another year'.
There is much pressure on this one day of the year, to 'get it right' but there is no right or wrong. A few years back I had been asked to make the dessert, a chocolate sponge cake to take to my brothers. I brought the burnt, over cooked cake out of the oven and felt quite panicky, so rushing to the corner shop nearby, I substituted it with a 'mint iced cake' which used to be our 'go to' dessert at Christmas in the past. This unfortunate situation led us to a trip down memory lane....
Whatever Christmas means to you - a day in a soup kitchen, making hampers, trying to cope with loss or catching up with family: it is you who decides the significance and meaning. You may be in survival mode or at the top of the Christmas game. Wherever you are internally, whatever you are feeling is valid, legitimate and personal and your uniqueness is the best gift you can hope for.
Paula Smith
