by AJ Rodriguez
Growing up as a child of the 80s was full of a mixed bag of goodies. Being raised by my grandparents, my culture was influenced by the 60s and 70s. The music heard in my house was aguinaldos, plenas, guaguancos and later salsa tipica and
modern salsa, herald by Frankie Ruiz, who was a family friend.
Durante la navidad, my house was filled with Christmas music from Ramito, Moralito, La Tuna de Cayaye 
and countless others. Mind you, all of this music was played on an 8-track and a turntable, which looked like a piece of furniture. How I loved sitting down next to the speakers and singing along to my favorite tracks, while eating un pastel and rice, still my favorite dish.
All of the family would get together at someone’s home and we’d all exchange gifts. Mine were always board games, once a Nintendo and a cast iron Voltron set. ‘Till this date, I have my Voltron for safekeeping. Of course, I would give my family members home made cards, since obviously I didn’t have money. But they all treasured it—at least I think they did.
As time went by, our get together became more infrequent, and just involved the family members we hung out with the most. The gifts became gift cards or clothes to wear for the winter. An occasional electronics game was to be seen. Still, the food was always present, from the homemade pernil to pasteles. Coquito was always on the table and rum-free for the kiddies as well.
When children became prevalent in our family again, las Navidades became more fun. We concentrated on making it the best day possible for them. We got gifts for them that we normally didn’t get as children. I came to realize that las Navidades became more and more about buying the best and outdoing everyone else. The feeling of gift giving was no longer there.
There were a few Christmases that I missed due to living away from family or just having previous plans. One of the fondest Christmases I encountered recently was the one I spent with my ex’s family. Everyone gave personal, touching gifts. I got a few cards with a few bucks in it. My ex’s mother gave me a Swatch watch that I still treasure.
Mealtime was so beautiful, surrounded by food-a-plenty and the Christmas music just made it more special. Then the 
evening came and all the children opened up the gifts. The elements of surprise on their faces were captured on film, hoping to be seen at a later time. It was purely magical and, I’ll say it, a blessing.
As I look forward to my first family Christmas in a while, I truly hope that the magic of la Navidad will present itself again and remind me of Christmases past, when no one cared how much you spent on that gift not what you got someone else that you didn’t get the other.
Happy Holidays to all! Feliz Navidad a todos!
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To learn more about AJ,
visit The AJay Rodriguez Blog.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
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