#85 – Waking Up on Christmas Morning

I’m a Jewish man. I cannot deny this.

However, my father grew up Catholic and as such, I was lucky enough to get to experience both Hannukah and Christmas as a kid. In fact, because my birthday is in December, that whole month was just a gift-getting orgy for me. I’d imagine as a 10-year old I didn’t quite categorize it that way (and in fact, hated that I didn’t get gifts at any other point in the calendar year), but that’s basically what it was.

Anyway, that’s all a long way to say: I experienced Christmas mornings for most of my childhood, despite being a heathen Jewish.

And for those of you who for one reason or another weren’t as lucky as me, let me tell you… it’s everything you’ve heard, read and seen. First off, there’s the food. When you’re Italian, it’s almost literally never ending for the two days. Second, there’s family and lots of it (something that at the time didn’t quite wear on me in the way it does now, but that’s another story for another time). Third, and most importantly, there’s PRESENTS.

That’s really what it’s all about. You were sent to bed the night before, you acted accordingly the whole month leading up to and you woke up feverish all with this single moment in mind. Whether or not you were past the age of believing in Santa is immaterial: this was the time of year where you got to get cool shit! And all at once, no less.

Now again, I’ll stress that as a Jewish kid I wasn’t getting Christmas gifts from my Jewish parents but instead from my extended family. As such, there were no PlayStations or Antoine Walker authentic jerseys (for real: I would’ve killed for one of those and my mom and dad refused to buy it for me) waiting under the tree.

But honestly, that didn’t matter. You were getting gifts. Which, aside from getting candy, was probably the single highlight of your life as a child.

Polar Opposite of this Feeling?: I sort of spoiled it already, but seeing that box that you just know is shaped like that thing you wanted (what else other than an Antoine Walker jersey would come in a box like that??), only to find out… it’s clothes. Dunt, dunt, dunnnn.