Iam pretty sure I heard Santa’s reindeer bells as a child.

My family got into Christmas.

With my mother and two of her three sisters settling into the same little suburb, getting together on Christmas Eve was nothing short of a glamorous party.

We were not fancy people.

My mother ironed patches on my jeans to squeeze out a few more months of wear during my growing-like-a-weed days.

She also sewed fabric strips onto the bottoms of pant legs, telling me it was a new trend. It wasn’t.

Come Christmas Eve, it was game on.

Out of the back of the closet came out our best clothes. I can still see my younger brother and me dressed in little suits and toe-cramping dress shoes.

We’d usually meet at my Aunt Vera’s house, where there was plenty of room for everyone.

And in those days, plenty o

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