Remembering and Making New by Bonnie Edwards

Oh, Christmas! How we love our traditions, even if they’re created by someone else. There are many “traditions” around this upcoming holiday. Some are so old; I doubt anyone really knows for certain where and how they started. Some are newer but have been around long enough that we don’t even think about how they came to be.

Some from my childhood:

Opening one gift on Christmas Eve. (Mom made sure to pass me the wrapped pajamas so I’d be in new ones for pictures in the morning.)

An orange in our stockings. (From Mom’s childhood when citrus fruit was next to impossible to find in winter-locked Newfoundland.)

Taking a drive to see Christmas lights. (With the price of gas these days…this is fading fast!)

Caroling! – must say here that I’ve only ever seen actual carolers at my front door once in my whole life. I was flabbergasted! I remember thinking, “Oh, wow! Am I supposed to whip up enough hot chocolate for all of these strangers?”

Movies! A relatively new tradition, but we all have our favorites. The other day, I watched Love, Actually for only the second time and really? Yes, I see why it’s on peoples’ must watch list. A Christmas Story is my must-see. What’s yours?

Songs! We all have our favorites. One of mine is…wait for it!…Porky Pig’s version of "Blue Christmas." It just isn’t Christmas until I hear that one. (This is definitely from my childhood, and I still laugh when I hear it, and isn’t that what Christmas Cheer is?)

Eggnog. (Does anyone make it from scratch? Because I’ve only ever bought it, and even that’s rare these days.)

Special treats. Christmas Bark was an instant hit when I learned about it in the 80s. Why? Because my kids got to smash candy canes to smithereens with a meat tenderizer. (Now you can buy the bits in bulk – but where’s the fun in that?)

And I’m not discussing that crazy fraud, Elf who sits around the house spying and reporting on children. I was horrified when I first heard of him and I still am. I hope he fades into obscurity where he belongs. I don’t see them on store shelves anymore, so there’s hope he’ll disappear. (Not that I look for him)

There’s one tradition that I’ve created that I’d like to share here. A couple of years ago, I was writing one of my eight Christmas-themed novels when I took my characters to a tree lighting in the town square of Dickens. I wondered what happens when the tree is lit? What do the people do in that beautiful moment when the tree explodes into light and shadow and the crowd goes ahh…

They kiss, that’s what they do. Because why wouldn’t they? We all like to share moments of holiday joy with our loved ones and there’s no better way to do that than to share a kiss. A smacker, a buss, a peck on the cheek, makes no difference, as long as it’s with someone you care for.

In The Winterland Waltz A Dickens Holiday Romance, my new book that released today, my heroine decides to invite the hero to the tree lighting, specifically because of this kissing tradition. It is their first kiss and happens in front of her friends and family. The kiss gives him the answer he’s seeking about where their friendship is going.

I had fun creating this simple tradition and some of the other authors in the series have included it in their stories, too. How cool is that?

If you could create a new holiday tradition, what would it be? Would it be something for young people in your life, or something more adult?

Bonnie Edwards has been writing all her life, starting with a poem about Santa suffering with gout. She was seven, Santa was a thousandteen years old. Delighted with writing, she went on to write family sagas, humorous contemporary romance, romantic suspense, erotic paranormal ghost romances and more.

Published by Kensington Books, Harlequin Books, Carina Press, and Robinson (UK) Bonnie’s stories stretch from short stories to novellas and novels. Now, she’s happy to be publishing her work herself.

With 40+ titles to her credit, she has been translated into several languages and sold books worldwide. Learn about more exciting releases and get a free romance by subscribing to her newsletter, Bonnie’s Newsy Bits

Cheers and happy reading!

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