Today is the second day of Christmas. As the song famously chronicles, Christmas is a twelve-day feast, ending on Twelfth Night, January 5. By that date, most of the Christmas decorations will be removed from my neighborhood, the stores, the restaurants; everywhere but some of the churches and the homes of die-hard traditionalists. “Christmas” to most Americans means December 25 only, or perhaps the night before.

If you celebrate Christmas, I am not about to say that you are doing it wrong. Who has the right to tell you the “right” way to do Christmas or any other holiday?  No, the traditional twelve days do not begin on December 13 and end with the big day, but if you choose to make it so, make it so. If we all did the exact same thing year after year, we would never get any new traditions. I believe when new families are formed, through marriage or however, new traditions can help draw them together and strengthen the unit. Trying to hold on to the past causes immeasurable heartache. Willingness to move forward is often the important first step.

I am thinking about what worked well this Christmas and what did not