Christmas time is probably the best time of the year. It’s where most of your memories come from. You feel overjoyed with excitement and can not wait to get presents. I have many memories from around Christmas time. My most favorite memory would have to be the year we went to the Bronx Zoo and saw all the lights. I remember walking through the gardens of flowers, decorated with every color light. We saw the old and new baby deers and being only 4, I remember being told that they were Santa’s reindeer. I also remember walking through the park and we come to the reptile house. My aunt is terrified of snakes and I remember I wanted to go into the reptile house. We tried to get her into the place but when we did she was screaming her head off! I thought it was very funny at the time and still think it’s funny. After we were done with the zoo, we went back to my aunt’s house to have a big dinner with almost all types of food. There was pasta and chicken and sausage and every other types of Italian food. The night was a total blast to a 4 year old.

A couple of weeks later, it was Christmas Eve! We had gone back to my aunt’s house for Christmas Eve like we do every year. Again we had lots and lots of food. After stuffing our faces with food, we decided to all take a break and just relax. After we had digested a little, my dad decides to sing on the karaoke machine. You see him holding the microphone signing and dancing to old songs like “the lion sleeps tonight” and “love shack”. You can hear my other relatives singing in the background along with my dad. That night was so much fun I didn’t want to go home and go to bed and wait for Santa to come.

The next morning was Christmas! I remember waking up at 7 and jumping on my parent’s bed yelling “wake up, wake up! Its Christmas morning! Santa came, Santa came!” My parents are walking into the living room like zombies, while I’m jumping around the house like a bouncy ball. I was so excited I wanted to open ever single present that second. I remember getting all the toys and most of the gifts were for me because at that time I was an only child and I didn’t have to share my gifts with anyone. I was opening those presents faster than lightning. I think the gift I wanted most that year was the Spice Girls Barbie dolls. I was a big fan of the Spice Girls and I had seen those dolls and I really wanted them. I remember opening the present and looking inside to see that the dolls were in there. “Mommy, mommy look what Santa brought me!” I was jumping for joy at the site of these dolls. I couldn’t believe what I had just gotten.

That day I had gotten much more presents, but none of the gifts would be as good as the dolls. Don’t get me wrong, I mean I loved my other gifts, but what I wanted most were those dolls. It has been 11 years since that Christmas and I can still remember it like it was yesterday. I’m 15 know and this is going to be my 16th Christmas. I still have those dolls from when I was 4 years old, but know my sister has them and she plays with them. Maybe one day, she will give it to my baby cousin, Arianna, and we can keep the “tradition” of passing down my Spice
Girls Christmas dolls. That was a Christmas that I’m probably going to remember the rest of my life.