Our Favorite Holidays Change as we Get Older

Everybody loves a holiday.

Holidays — whether Federally recognized or not — allow us to celebrate with food, family and friends, and gifts.

But as we age, holidays take on different meanings.

Let’s start with Valentine’s Day.

First, you get the candy. Then, you give the candy.

Then after 5 or 6 decades of Valentine’s Days, you buy your own candy on Feb. 15 for 50 percent off and cringe when you look at the nutritional information.

But you eat it anyway, because half-off a chocolate heart only happens once a year, and you’re going to start walking in March anyway.

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a holiday here, but it is in Ireland. And, since more than 31.5 million Americans claims Irish ancestry, it’s a party waiting to happen.

Those under 21 celebrate St. Patty one way, and those over 21 celebrate it another.

On Easter, you evolve from hunting eggs to hiding eggs to wishing you had someone to hide the eggs for.

I don’t speak a lot of Spanish, but I am fairly convinced that Cinco de Mayo translates into “let’s wait an hour for a table at a Mexican restaurant.”

It’s pretty much the Latin equivalent to St. Patrick’s Day as far as peoples’ behavior is concerned. It’s an observance for grown-ups.

I’ve always loved the Fourth of July. And let’s face it, Independence Day is best known for fireworks.

When you’re a kid you light fireworks.

Then you watch your kids light fireworks.

Years later, you complain about people shooting off fireworks in your neighborhood while you watch fireworks on television.

Yes, there’s a pattern going on here, and Halloween is another example.

A child gets candy and eats it. 

An adult sits on the front porch and gives out candy and eats it. 

A few years later, that same adult turns off the porch light and pretends not to be home and eats the candy. 

I'm not sure when my love affair with food began, but Thanksgiving is the day I give thanks for my taste buds.

Thanksgiving is the holiday that just gets better the older you get, I’ve always thought.

It’s the holiday that gives and wants nothing in return. There isn’t any gift giving. Nobody is wearing a bathing suit.

It’s the perfect holiday.

Then comes Christmas, which is all about the children.

Some of my best childhood memories are centered around Christmas.

Other memories stand out, however.

Batteries were not sold on Christmas day back then. And that seemed to be a perpetual problem.

We always went to an uncle’s house Christmas afternoon. So I had to leave my shiny new toys at home for an eternity.

Then there’s the coconut cake incident, of which I will not elaborate.

It’s the only food I won’t eat.

You know you’re not a kid anymore when you’re putting together a bicycle at 1 a.m., on Christmas morning.

On New Year’s Eve, as a kid you beg to stay up until midnight. After a few years of adulthood, you fight to stay up until midnight.

And when you reach a certain age, you pretend to be a Londoner so you can blow your horn at 7 p.m.

If you’re feeling low, take heart.

Thanksgiving is in just a little more than 4 months.