For many, the first line from the 19th century poem ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore brings back fond memories of Christmases past.  

As little children, Christmas Eve was filled with anticipation and excitement—and an inability to sleep. The following morning, after all, would present the opportunity to open gifts carefully wrapped and placed under the bright lights of the Christmas tree.

Marika Lopez remembers.

One of her Christmas traditions as a child was sharing the joy of the holiday with her family, who would gather in front of the TV to watch Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas.

But her parents also observed some cultural traditions, Nochebuena among them.

A Spanish word referring to the night of Christmas Eve and celebrated on Dec. 24 every year, in Latin American cultures it is often the biggest feast of the Christmas season.

“Usually my mom would make us ham, egg, bread and hot chocolate,” recalls Marika, a young Richmondite dedicated to advancing public understanding about epilepsy. “We would wait until midnight and open a few gifts, then go to bed. Then, Christmas morning is when we opened our presents from Santa.”

Recently-elected Richmond-Queensborough MLA Aman Singh grew up in Hong Kong, where he had the opportunity to experience what amounts to an “unbounded treasure chest of memories”—chief among this holiday season.

“No one lights up the night like the people of Hong Kong,” he says. “Even on a normal day, the concrete jungle that can sometimes be underwhelming comes to life at night with a myriad of colours and lights. Hong Kong on any night is a sight to see, but oh, during the holiday season it’s completely magical.

“I remember being tickled with excitement as my mom, dad, brother and I boarded the bus from Causeway Bay to the Star Ferry to make the crossing from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon.”

(For those who don’t know, the Star Ferry has been running since 1871. Though they have been modernized they have retained their amazing old world appearance.)

“The ferry ride itself is magical as you cross between the island and the mainland—you are surrounded by a city alive with lights. Across the crossing in Kowloon, we would walk past the space museum, joined by thousands of people milling around, towards the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. Looking to the right across the water you could see the Hong Kong Island skyline in its full glory and ahead skyscrapers adorned with thousands of Christmas lights.”

As Singh shares the memory, he has tears in his eyes thinking of his mother’s hand holding his tight with love.

“I close my eyes and I am immediately transported back to that time and place,” he says.

A dedicated hockey mom, even if her kids have now graduated to the adult game, Loreen Long remembers Boxing Day onwards as being hockey tournament time. And in between, squeezing in time to watch the world junior championships.

But a trip to Edmonton to experience a white Christmas with her boys’ (Craig and Cole) paternal grandparents also stands out among the holiday memories.

“Santa found them there, and they built snowmen and tobogganed down a neighbouring hill,” she remembers. “When we visited again that summer, we found a chocolate covered in a wrapper with Santa on it that Cole had dropped (and looked for 20 minutes but couldn’t find).”

Long also recalls getting snowed in and having their flight home cancelled. They haven’t visited Edmonton in the winter since.

“We prefer to go see snow at Seymour, Grouse or Whistler,” she says.

Pre-COVID, another tradition in the Long household was inviting friends and family over for Christmas Eve.

“We often included some Christmas crafts, and the most popular activity was each person drawing names and decorating a gingerbread cookie to resemble them and guessing who was who. It was a night we loved.”

Bob Jackson, a prominent figure in Richmond sporting circles for several decades, shares an unusual Christmas story from the early 1990s.

Jackson and his wife Michelle both grew up in Winnipeg and they wanted their daughters (still children at the time) to experience a white Christmas with relatives in Manitoba.

So they packed their van and drove each way in two days.

“The closer we got to Winnipeg the colder it got,” Jackson recalls. “In fact the cool air would leak in around the sliding door of our van, so in order to stay warm (one of his daughters) Colleen had to sit in a sleeping bag. We arrived in Winnipeg a few days before Christmas and it was -37˚C and windy.”

On Christmas Eve they drove to one of Michelle's brother's home, in Seven Sister Falls, which is on the Winnipeg River about 90 miles northeast of Winnipeg. Arriving at 9 p.m., it was already -40˚C with a 20 to 30 kilometre per hour northwind. And it was about 150 feet from where they parked to the front door of the house. In the short trip from the van to the house both the girls (Colleen and her sister Suzanne) froze their exposed ears and nose.

But it wasn’t all bad.

“We had taken our cross-country skis, and since we were in open country we tried cross-country skiing on a sunny afternoon at about -30˚ Celsius. We were all bundled up in layers of clothing. I think the girls lasted for less than 10 minutes,” Jackson says.

Later, they ventured to Grand Beach to visit with more family and this time went out on snowmobiles for a ride at -35. Fortunately they had special snowmobile clothing which included a helmet with a face shield.

For the 10 days of the Jackson’s Christmas time adventure the temperature never got above -30, and most days the windchill temperature was much colder. Needless to say, on their return trip to the West Coast, Colleen and Suzanne both wondered how we could live there, and now knew why we moved to the West Coast. They both indicated that they only wanted to return to Manitoba in the warm summertime.

“The next year we had to return to Manitoba for another Christmas. Michelle's mother had been in a serious automobile accident and was still convalescing, so Michelle felt that she should visit with her mother who was in her late 80s,” Jackson said. “The girls were not happy when we announced that we were going to Winnipeg for another Christmas.”

But this time the weather was so mild that there was not even enough snow for cross-country skiing. The temperature varied between -20 at night and near zero in the day.

Today, Colleen lives in Tsawwassen and has no desire to go to the prairies or to visit Suzanne in Montreal at Christmas, Jackson says. Suzanne has lived in Montreal for 13 years and they usually get a white Christmas and cooler weather in the winter. But it never gets colder than -25, so she claims she can live in those conditions after experiencing winter in Manitoba.

For emerging Steveston singer/songwriter Audrey De Boer, Christmas is undoubtedly her favourite time of the year.

“I am that girl who cannot wait to decorate the Christmas tree. I truly have so many things about the season that warm my soul. Picking favourites is difficult because Christmas is everything to me.”

Growing up in Steveston has brought many joys of the season, says De Boer. 

“The Christmas traditions Steveston has will always be the best part of my memories and I still look forward to them every year. The Santa Claus parade, the hayrides, the breakfasts with Santa and the way the Steveston streets twinkle with the all the Christmas lights—I will always love Christmas, and every year I so much enjoy spending time in the community and with our family.”

This year will certainly be different, De Boer says, but is even more important than ever.

“We will try to do what we can to safely connect with families in need, seniors and those around us that are, like us, missing some of the traditions of the days leading to Christmas Day. This year it will be simple and different but the magic still lives in it all. From my home to yours; all the best for a wonderful holiday time.”