On Holiday traditions and nostalgia

Every year as Thanksgiving dinner finishes up I turn my attention to my favorite time of year: the holiday season. Christmas for me has long been a time of nostalgia and tradition. Being an old soul I take this time to reflect on where I've come from and celebrations of years past. The Christmas music I listen to doesn't just make me holly and jolly. It also brings back memories of putting up the tree at my parents' house and celebrating on Christmas Eve with more cousins than I could ever count. It's because of this urge to look back that I traditionally fall into a very specific pattern this time of year. On the night of Thanksgiving I watch the original version of Miracle on 34th Street because it was something I always did with my Pops when I was younger. My wife and I always wrap presents while watching The Muppet Christmas Carol and each December I reread the Dickens classic that Kermit and the gang so perfectly reproduced. For me, rediscovering the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future helps remind me of the true meaning of the season and gives me a reason to reflect on where I've been, where I am and where I hope to go. Another great tradition of our household is that every year my wife takes to the kitchen to bake thumb print cookies from her mother's recipe. This is the perfect time of year for goodies and so I'm planning on joining her in baking by checking out some of the cookbooks from our Pinterest page and adding some treats to our holiday menu. These digital cookbooks are great for the kitchen. Simply find the recipe you're looking for, prop your device up next to the cutting boards and rolling pins and you're good to go! For an added bonus we'll borrow some holiday music from the library to provide a musical background for our baking adventure. The holidays are a great time to look back on the things you're truly thankful for in your life. For me it's family, food, books and traditions. As you're reading this there's a decent chance I'm curled up next to our fireplace with my iPad reading about that tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone, Scrooge and his story of redemption while snacking on something sweet and listening to holiday classics. I'm thankful for these moments every year but I'm even more thankful that they're all provided for free from the library. Cheers and happy holidays.   Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist at OverDrive. He thinks Michael Cane was the best Scrooge ever.

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