Holding Tight to Tradition
Christmas to the Atry family is about history.
Forty-year-old handmade stockings, the faded set of place mats Grandma made from Christmas cards one year, a worn-out Advent calendar with a stuffed mouse to count down the days until Dec. 25.
Countless holiday heirlooms and just as many fond family memories of past holidays bring Christmas to the house Jim and Criss Atry have called home for 20 years.
“It wouldn’t feel right without those things,” Criss Atry said. “Separately, they seem small, but put them together and they mean Christmas.”
It’s as if the Atry home were a Norman Rockwell painting, an abundantly detailed piece of Americana overflowing with Christmas traditions and customs.
“Being together is the most important thing to us at Christmastime,” Criss Atry said.
For the Atrys, both 40, the season has become a familiar and much-anticipated ritual.
On Christmas Eve, their children, Crystal, 13, and Andrew, 10, hang stockings and write their wish-lists. “We have them already in our minds, but have to ask Mom how to spell things,” said the chatty, blond-haired Andrew. They also open one present each, usually the smallest one, and hang a new ornament, which they get every year from their parents.
Like many family homes on Christmas morning, the children get things rolling sometime before sun-up, sifting through their stockings and taking turns opening presents. Andrew acknowledges that “it’s hard to be patient sometimes.”
By 7 a.m., wearing bathrobes and pajamas, all four pile into the car and drive two miles to Criss’ childhood home, where her parents have cinnamon buns, more gifts and a fire waiting. After a quick trip home to change clothes, they return for a turkey dinner about 2 p.m. Naps are clearly in order later.
To Criss Atry, who has never strayed far from Anaheim, the schedule is comforting. Her focus on family has rubbed off on her husband and children and become itself a treasured tradition.
“One year my mother said we didn’t have to come over just to be with them, that we should spend Christmas together in our own home,” Criss Atry recalled. “The kids were like, ‘No way, Grandma. We’re coming.’ ”
This may be the last year the Atrys spend Christmas in the only home their children have known. They’ve outgrown their small house and they’re selling it, but they aren’t moving far. In fact, they hope to move near the home of Criss Atry’s parents.
“We’ve had some great years here,” Criss said. “None of us want this to be our last Christmas in this place.”
That’s one reason they cherish their memories: the year one of their new Dalmatian puppies marked its spot on the newly decorated tree, or the time Jim, a mechanic, came home from work at 4 a.m. to a very wide-awake Andrew waiting expectantly on the living room floor.
But they look forward to more memorable times in a new house--as long as the family is home for the holidays.
“Everything else is a bonus,” Jim said. “I hope [Crystal and Andrew] grow up and say, ‘What’s Christmas without family?’ ”
Monday: A look at how Strong and Thu Hong Nguyen and their family celebrate Christmas.
