Someone start it...
I think this year is going to be the best yet.
I was 12 or 13 and my dog had died just a few months previous. I watched with Horror and dismay as everyone in my family had gifts to open... except for me. The my mom tossed on my way and it was a pack of under shorts. I sat there - crying inside and smiling outside. After all the paper had been cleaned up and put away - I took my mom aside and told her "I don't want to make a scene, but I didn't get any gifts. My mom said "turn around" - my dad and uncle came upstairs with a huge box - I opened it up and there was a 12 week old puppy. A purebred AKA Certified - ultra expensive Boston Terrier named
"Chuckaluck the Ripper" - that was his certified AKA name. I just called him Chuck.
Everyone in the family chipped in money and bought him fror me. He was my pal, sidekick and bodyguard for many years.
The older I get, the better Christmases are. Every year Christmas is better than the last one, and last year was good enough to be this year already. Can't wait to get to this year's Christmas.
It helps that I have a cool family. We all like to hang out together, we have family dinners at the drop of a hat - any hat - and I have never seen any serious argument break out at a family get-together.
And sorry all you friends online, but I will not be at the computer while the rest of the family is here. Nope, nuh-uh, no siree, fagetaboudit. When my family is all together in one house you want to be on hand to watch and listen.