The countdown to Christmas leaves us with two days left to go. I can imagine all the children’s eyes, alight with the anticipation of Santa coming to town, baking their cookies and filling glasses with milk. The rest of us are trying to finish some last-minute shopping, making rounds to old friends and loved ones we wish to catch up with. The holiday rush is coming to a frenzy, one that has been very apparent working at Kohls this week, as parents try to finish fulfilling the Christmas lists of their kids and others hope to seek the best sales around town. It has been a whirlwind of a week here at home, but as I would like to think, it’s a beautiful kind of chaos that only the holidays can bring about.

As I look forward to the next two weeks, I must also look back to how the meaning of this time of year has changed as I have gotten older. As a child, I would be excited to spend late nights with my siblings in my brother’s room, the anticipation of what was to come as loud in our ears as the beat of our hearts. Years would go by and soon I would be looking forward to searching for gifts to give to the ones I cared about with whatever money I could find. Even in a year, I have gone from appreciating the holidays for the lights and the gifts to truly enjoying the company and the warmth of those around me. It almost feels as if being home the holidays is even more special after being away for college. The lights seem a little brighter, baking our annual cake is just a little sweeter, and hugging my mother who seems to have shrank a bit since I last saw her seems to be just a bit tighter.

After making it through a one third of my freshman year already, it isn’t hard to believe how quickly these next few years are about to pass by. Holidays will pass a bit faster, my time home will shorten until home becomes another place altogether, and somehow my young adult life will find itself on full speed ahead. People used to tell me that senior year would fly by, that I would be in college before I knew it. The thing is, it’s hard to understand how quickly time will pass until suddenly you look back and realize that you’re another year older. That’s when the candles go no farther than our 28th birthdays, for we wouldn’t want to find ourselves getting too “old”. Yet, as we look towards the future, I always remember that there are ways to slow it all down if we want to.

That’s what the best people in our lives are here for.

You see, there are people in our lives who can give us the gift of immortality by way of the moments they are a part of. These memories have a way of becoming snap-shots, freeze frames, in which some of our best times can then become a part of who we are. In that way, I would like to think that we are made up of many moments and people around us who change our lives. As each and every one, from the holiday memories to those bigger than ourselves, shape us into the people we become in our future. So whether is it tomorrow, next week, or even after the 30th repeat of our 28th birthdays, make sure that as time passes us by, you can still remember to make and hold onto the moments that never will.

And since this is my last blog before the holiday is upon us, I wish every one of you and your families a very Merry Christmas