Feliz Navidad...
...is what I have begun to say to my Hispanic customers at Sears. I realize it is early, but so are the retail sales. I love the literal meaning of the Hispanic version of "Merry Christmas". It literally means "Happy Nativity", a reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, whereas the phrase "Merry Christmas" is more about a religious celebration of His death at the appointed date of His birth.
...separates the hoopla of giving each other gifts on someone else's birthday from the importance of recognizing the birth of The Most Important Human of All Time, Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God.
...is proclaimed in Argentina and the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25th, while the exchanging of gifts is reserved for 12 days later as a reminder of the gifts of the Wise Men, who traveled to see baby Jesus, the King of Kings. It is called Twelfth Night traditionally. I really like that better, but what family members can get Twelfth Night as a holiday from work to be able to travel?
...y prosper año y felicidad; from the rest of a popular song proclaims that celebrating the birth of Jesus toward the end of the calendar year is fitting as we wish each other a properous new year and much happiness throughout 2008.
...is much like Lance's mother's wearing of the pin that states, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season", which has been passed on to her cousin, Evelyn Nelson, who wears it for the same reason, plus it honors Susie. Evelyn in several ways is keeping Susie's memory alive; one way was her recent gesture of sending Anna Faith a monogrammed set of baby shoes with her name and birthdate on them; just like her "Gramma" would have done.