Charm asked our mothers and daughters, "What is your most cherished holiday memory with each other?" Here's what they said:
KATIE AND ELLEN REID OF LIBERTY CITY
Katie, 43: "One memory I love so much is more of a tradition. Every Christmas Eve, we open our gifts. We squeal and jump up and down with delight because we always get exactly what we want. After the excitement, we read from the Bible about the birth of our Lord, and we're reminded about the reason we celebrate.
But being the Christmas girls that we are, we must hurry off to bed because Santa Claus doesn't come to the house unless everyone's asleep! So, we begin the long process of getting ready for Santa. We set out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Ellen and Anna write a short note to Santa thanking him for the gifts that he has brought them. After that, we go to sleep.
The next morning there are more gifts, and the girls check to see that Santa has eaten the cookies and drunk the milk -- and he always writes a letter saying he loves them and he'll be back next year!
Ellen, 14: "My mom and I are very close. We are always shopping together, getting out nails done or just sitting at home while having a movie marathon. We always have fun together, especially during the holidays.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times of the year, and my mom makes them special. My favorite Christmas memory with my mom was last year. It was right after Thanksgiving and we were decorating our tree. My older sister, Anna, was home from college which made the moment so special. The reason I love this memory is because we talked about our favorite Christmas movies and our favorite presents and how much our family loves Christmas!
As we continued decorating, I became so excited because Christmas would be here soon! It was just so much fun for my mom, my sister and me to be together remembering all of the wonderful times we have had together at Christmas.
CAROL AND SHANNON MANLEY OF LONGVIEW
Carol, 47: "The memory I cherish most with Shannon is one from Christmas 1996. We lost my mother to cancer right after Christmas that year. My daughter, Shannon, was 3 and a 1/2. Being an entertaining child, she wanted to make 'Memommie' smile.
She put on a fashion show with song and dance that had my mother and me laughing. It was precious. I will forever remember the simple pleasure that Shannon brought in a difficult situation."
Shannon, 14: "I love this time of year. My memories all seem to include my big family being together. However, I do love to go Christmas shopping with my Mom. We go from store to store trying to find just the right gifts for family and friends. Our schedules are busy, so it?s nice spending time together, just the two of us. In the midst of shopping, we always stop for Starbucks. This is definitely a plus.
Christmas is a special time and we always seem to make new memories each year."
