This Christmas I’d like to make this column one of positivity and hope. World events as ever challenge us as people, but progress is made through light and love rather then gloom.

For me personally like many others, the best Christmas memories come from childhood, a time that fades into the distance with each passing holiday season.

Beyond the toys long lost and candy long eaten, there is an aura of joy and contentment seldom matched and fondly remembered.

For many it was also our first taste of sweet temptation, counting down the days till Christmas, knowing there would be no school and other changes to the status quo. As children, we seemed to relish this change in routine, it meant having the chance to experience new things and have all of the important people in your life come together in one place.

Personally my favorite part as a child was seeing all the wrapped presents under the tree the days leading up to Christmas. Not through the greedy eyes of an adult but the simple and humble eyes of a child. Eyes that only knew the tantalizing mystery behind each hidden item and the possible adventures that lay within.

Being half Lithuanian on my mother’s side, it also meant we got to eat Kugela, a sort of stuffing made with potatoes rather then bread, with bacon and onions added. The dish was usually served in my house with sour cream, but now, as then, I had a love affair with ketchup.

The dish was delicious but time consuming, requiring whole bags of potatoes to be peeled and shredded with a hand shredder.

However, in this case, the effort was more than worth it in the end as the result is like a potato pancake stuffing the likes of which you have never tasted before!

Then there are the memories that endure in our minds because of odd circumstances. One Christmas when I was still petty young I went with my mom to get her hair done on Christmas Eve. I got sick all over myself inside the parlor as the sickness just seemed to appear out of nowhere and to this day I still remember the embarrassment while they washed my shirt in the beauty parlor’s washer/dryer set.

To be positive about it, that was probably the only time in my life I will be sitting shirtless with three attractive beauticians, but at least I can say it did happen at some point.

Another memory that sounds awful but ended up being better then expected was the one random year a snow storm took out the power at our house in Chicago because of heavy snow and ice cover bringing down a power line (something no one in Texas should worry about happening to them this year).

Despite having no power to illuminate our Christmas, we made the best of it and like many instances when we are willing to turn off our technological devices and pay attention to the people around us, it had excellent results (and let’s hear it for stoves that don’t require electricity).

Christmas should be a time for fond memories and also about making new ones, although they may never quite match up with the Christmases of our youth.

Always remember this holiday season to carry that good spirit with you throughout the rest of the fast approaching New Year.

Happy Holidays!