So there we were on Christmas night. I’ll set the festive scene. A nearly empty Roy Rogers on the New Jersey Turnpike. Muzak “Feliz Navidad” played in the background. A man, his wife, a two year old, and a baby huddled in a back booth scarfing down stale burgers and salty fries while waiting for traffic to die down. The woman quietly hummed Christmas carols to quiet the baby as the two year old little blond girl tried hard not to fall asleep on her father, too tired to even finish her chicken nuggets. The husband and wife locked eyes in understanding and the man mouthed a promise: We are never doing this again.

And to all a good night.

That was the Archbold crew a few years ago. Looking back, that was a big moment for us. It was the moment when Christmas became our own; the moment we decided to create our own Christmas family traditions.

Please continue reading at Catholic Match.

*subhead*Turnpike.*subhead*