I had great times during Christmas when I was a kid.
All the family was reunited, usually at my house. Mom has 2 sisters, dad has a brother. I've got 6 cousins, plus a grandmother.
So the total of people was 10.
But this number was variable: parents could came from Umbria, Friuli and Sicily regions, and, since I live in a small condominium, my neighbours often came to eat something or play cards.
This also happened on Epiphany (ehy, Ulrica! it's typical here to put sweets in sockets the 8th of January!), New Year's Eve and Easter (holidays in Italy last long
).
I remember my mom and her sisters cooking and impaste "tortellini", a typical kind of pasta which is to be eaten with soup. I also remember endless discussions because I didn't want them to put cheese in my soup!
And the most rebel of my cousins was always by my side
I then remember long hours spent playing with Legos or a card game called "Il mercante in fiera", and then the Tombola, Italian bingo. At midnight we exchanged gifts, and during the following 2 or 3 days my house was open for the relatives and other hosts.
Then years passed quickly, bad things happened in my life, and I am now not very prone to celebrate anything that has something to do with a merciful God, which has proven not to be so merciful to me and my family.
Christmas, as well as almost everything that has nothing to do with everyday's life, has lost all the magic it had when I was in my childhood.
That's why I'm not going to celebrate Christmas, even if I'm very happy if you find pleasure in doing so, and that's why I wish you all (and your families, of course!) to have the most wonderful Christmas one can imagine!!
Merry Christmas everybody!
Mauro.