Moments in the Making: Sharing Our Community’s Lasting Holiday Traditions and Memories

We all have a favorite holiday memory, and one of the things I like best about the season is that each year we get the incredible opportunity to make new, lasting ones. If you think about that, it’s one of the greatest gifts of the holidays.

I surveyed community members for their favorite memories and asked what tips they might have for making the most of the holidays. The stories and advice are worth reading!

Fostering connections during the holidays

For many of us, the magical memories stem from the connections and reconnections that take place during get-togethers with family and friends. Remember the Christmas Eve when you introduced your significant other to your parents? Or the holiday feast where you first met a baby niece or nephew? Or the last Christmas dinner with an elderly relative?

But it’s not always easy to connect with people, especially those outside your immediate family circle. I’d like to share some tips with you that I learned before I founded 1-800-Flowers while working as a social worker at the St. John’s Home for Boys and a bartender in the evenings:

Being a bartender forced me to interact with different people and put me at the center of the conversation.?

At St. John’s Home for Boys, I worked with someone named Joe. He was a shy man and proud of his Italian heritage. Every year on March 19 for St. Joseph’s Day, Joe would bring cannoli and espresso and invited everyone into his office.?I cannot think of Joe without thinking of the fun gatherings in his office.

How can you learn from my experience as a bartender or implement Joe’s team gathering approach? You might bake or bring cookies to an office holiday party or even start your own secret Santa!

Peter, a community member who owns an auto repair service center in Long Island, New York, had a very similar tip for connecting at his office. He sets a box of 100 Cheryl’s cookies on his counter, each individually wrapped so a person can take one depending on their flavor preferences.?Peter tells us the best part is how people gather around the counter getting to know each other and chatting and how the cookies facilitate a positive attitude and relationship building. There’s very little a cookie cannot make better!

For our community members who are “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fans, Larry David even went so far as to purchase a car so he could continue to grab bunches of free Bavarian licorice from his neighborhood auto dealership (the full episode is titled “Beep Panic” – it’s sure to fill your night with laughter).??

Matching holiday-themed pajamas

Community members Deanna and Bob shared how their kids and grandkids wore matching holiday-themed pajamas on Christmas morning last year. When they connected on Zoom to open their gifts, everyone was wearing the same thing! This year, they will gather in person, and they will all continue the tradition of wearing the same PJs – a new and fun tradition that came about because of the pandemic.

Holiday movie marathons

This Thanksgiving, many of you shared on social media that you watched the classic “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.” It reminded me how we have started traditions watching holiday movie marathons with classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and “A Christmas Story.” Screening the films each year provides a great way for the family to come together, laugh, and watch those meaningful holiday classics.

Don’t forget one of the biggest lessons from the pandemic: You can connect effectively with friends and family – and watch movies – via Zoom or other technology. I recently caught up with Rob Rosen, one of our earliest investors who enjoys in-person social interaction. (He said he can’t wait to reconnect!) Interestingly, his wife is a psychiatrist focused on organizational behavior and change and managing a workforce during these changing times.

Listening to holiday themed audiobooks

In October, our community shared their love of books and reading in a Celebration Pulse email. We were delighted when several community members told us about favorite holiday memories involving some of the Christmas classics.

Rita, for instance, told us about her family’s tradition on Christmas Eve, when everyone gathers around the stereo and listens on holiday audio books like Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” What a wonderful way for the family to cuddle up with each other and allow the kids ways to spur their holiday imaginations!

Celebrating family heritages through holiday food

I’ve heard from many of you about your own ways to create lasting celebrations, and they include standards like families getting together decorating the trees with homemade ornaments or making traditional gingerbread houses with each person getting a specific part of the house to build.

New take on secret Santa

Since Christmas is about giving, I learned from one of our customers about a unique way to give. Carl’s family wraps gifts without any tags indicating the sender, and his kids then leave the packages on the steps and porches of their neighbors. This takes the Secret Santa tradition to a whole new level!

Holiday camping

Most of us spend a great deal of time picking a Christmas tree and carefully selecting and placing ornaments, lights, and trinkets on the branches. One of our community members, Phil, shared a tip that makes the holiday tree extra special. The night after the tree is fully decorated, he and his two children camp out under the tree in their sleeping bags. They make treats like Smores in the fireplace and read classic holiday books while the tree brightens the room.

This year, I hope that you and your families make your own lasting memories, and perhaps start new traditions. As the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” But it doesn’t happen by accident, you have to work on it. ?And I hope that holds true for you and all your loved ones.