December 30, 2025 – The 2025 holiday season was marked with changes and challenges. In spite of the challenges, I was able to embrace holiday joy from Thanksgiving through the New Year.
Light Source #1: Gathering around the Thanksgiving Table
Ever since my husband and I moved into our current home 35 years ago, Thanksgiving has been traditionally my holiday to host. One year we traveled to Disneyland to celebrate my mother’s 75th birthday and had our Thanksgiving feast at the resort; and another year we travelled out of state to celebrate Thanksgiving with my in-laws, but other than that, Thanksgiving dinner has taken place at our home. The number of people around my table has fluctuated from year to year, but setting a fancy table and serving a turkey dinner with all of the traditional fixings has been a constant.
This year, I was prepared to host a large group of three generations of family, including 12 adults and 4 littles. However, one family was too sick to join us, and two adults declined the invitation. What was planned to be a dinner party extending to two full tables became small and intimate enough for us to squeeze around one dinner table. Just as my mother used to do, I set the table with china, crystal, and the good silver. Just as my father used to do, we said grace before the meal and enjoyed the feast that we prepared together.
Light Source #2: Keeping Memories Alive through Family Traditions
The holidays hit differently when loved ones are not present. This year, we were grieving the recent deaths of close family members, most recently my brother-in-law in August and my cousin in June, and still feeling the loss of my father (December 2024), my father-in-law (June 2020), and my mother (June 2019). Keeping their memories alive through observing family traditions was important–lighting the cardinal candle near the door to remember those who are watching from heaven, taking flowers to the cemetery, filling stockings for every member of the family, baking pies for Thanksgiving, and preparing holiday favorites using recipes passed on by loved ones before us to name a few.
Light Source #3: Making my Favorite Holiday Treats
This year, my husband and I took a road trip in the middle of December to visit family out-of-state. The timing of our trip meant adjusting my usual baking ambitions. I let myself off the hook from distributing cookie boxes to the neighbors. Instead, I baked small batches of favorites a few times during the month, with specific occasions in mind. I made fudge for my hairdresser and housekeeper, and added a batch of Grandma’s molasses cookies so that I could bring some cookies and fudge to my sister-in-law’s house during our visit. When I got home, I baked a couple of batches of my kids’ favorites, particular snickerdoodles and more molasses cookies. No one seemed to mind! (But I will try to make biscotti and thumbprints again next year.)
Light Source #4: Spiritual Practices
I was raised in a traditional church-going home. For a variety of reasons, this year, I focused on more personal and private Advent observances. My husband and I lit the Advent wreath and read Bible lessons together each Sunday, and every day I read and reflected using an online Advent devotional series. I did not attend church on Christmas Eve, but we lit the candles and read the Christmas story from the Bible together.
Light Source #5: Multiple Celebrations with Family and Friends
During our December road trip, it was a joy to spend a week in a warmer climate and just hang out with family that we don’t see very often, gathering around the table enjoying great food and wine with my husband’s family.
Christmas itself was joyous and festive and celebrated over the course of two family gatherings. We gathered with our children and grandchildren (four under the age of 5!) on Christmas Eve for dinner, including an early Santa visit and play time for the littles. Because the weather was stormy, our neighborhood luminaries were postponed (and finally cancelled), but we stayed warm and dry inside our cozy home. We had our extended family holiday celebration including my sister and her sons on the Sunday after Christmas, with dinner, adult gift exchange, and more play time for the littles. We cheered on our San Francisco 49ers together and felt blessed to be gathered as a family.
We capped off the holiday season with two more celebrations. Typically we celebrate New Years Eve at our favorite restaurant with our best friends. However, they were travelling, so my husband and I made it a date night instead. On the first Friday of the New Year, we gathered with our closest friends for a New Years Dinner, toasting to our enduring friendship.
As I reflect on the 2025 holiday season, I am reminded of how much I have to be grateful for. In spite of the darkness and chaos that prevailed over much of 2025, I was surrounded by light and joy and love.