Oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree...

Image credit here

It is now that time of year again, where I start to reminisce the Christmases of my childhood. Christmas? you may ask... But I thought he was Muslim?

I grew up in a stout Islamic environment where my parents ingrained in me the tenets of the Quran and hadith. But outside my little bubble I also grew up in an environment where Christmas was a magical time of year. It was the time when my friends would brag about the presents they would be getting from their parents, and how they would be playing with them when I came over to their house on Christmas, and so on and so forth. Excitement would radiate from every child, regardless of which race they belonged to...

It was still an innocent time for me. A time when when boys were boys and girls were girls, and the top shelf magazines were not to be seen, although the curiosity was starting to build (Note - many people here would not understand this reference, though people who've been overseas are probably grinning just about now). In short, Christmas to me was the wholesome family experience that you would see on TV. A time of togetherness, goodwill and peace, not those wild Christmas parties that university students would have. Christmas meant friends and food, caroling and parties (nice ones), and of course...snow. The perfect white Christmas... When the ground would be totally covered in beautiful white snow, perfect and pure, just waiting for us to make snow angels and snowmen.

Yes, I really do miss the Christmas of my childhood...