"Pink Pig Traditions" by Elena Goodrow

Oh the holidays… the happiest and most stressful time of the year. This time of year looks different for everyone and can be filled with all kinds of emotions. From everywhere around the world and from all walks of life, everyone has different memories and traditions from their favorite winter holidays. For me, my family has always celebrated Christmas. The way we celebrate has changed many times over the years but there are still traditions I still hold close to my heart.

During the winter months I have always lived on the edge, simply waiting to get sick. Surprisingly after all these years I have never spent Christmas day in the hospital and I’m grateful for that! There was one year that it was pretty close, I was in the hospital for a few weeks and was discharged only a few days before Christmas. My family always made sure the holidays were filled with fun memories and traditions, regardless of how my health was that year. I’d love to tell you about some of my favorites…

Here in Georgia there used to be a mall that hosted a yearly Christmas attraction called “The Pink Pig.” It was a train ride that looked like a pig, they would set it up inside of a huge tent with all pink decorations. As you rode you would hear the story of Priscilla the Pig and how much she loves Christmas. How did this come to fruition and why was this Pink Pig associated with Christmas? I don’t think we will ever know. They didn’t do the Pink Pig in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID, and in 2022 they announced they were closing it permanently. My family had started going the year I was born! Every single year we would drive into Atlanta to go to this mall and ride the Pink Pig. It was so fun and silly, and we always made time for it. We would go early on a weekday and were typically the only ones there, so we weren’t concerned about catching sickness from crowds. I know this seems like the most random unusual thing, does anyone else have an odd holiday attraction like this where you’re from?

Another one of my favorite traditions took place in our very own neighborhood. We lived in the Atlanta suburbs in a decently sized neighborhood that also happened to be quite competitive. Every year the neighborhood would host a Christmas lights competition where several houses would set up incredible displays. My Mom would pop several bags of popcorn and split them into containers for me and my three younger siblings, then she would make us all hot chocolate- except for me because I did not like hot chocolate. I got apple cider or hot tea. We would take our drinks in thermal to-go cups and pile into my Mom’s van. We drove all around the neighborhood blasting Christmas music, shoving our mouths full of popcorn, sipping on our drinks, and admiring the lights. It was lovely!

Finally, the last tradition I will tell you about took place on December 23rd, but we called it “Christmas Eve-Eve.” We would pull out all our sleeping bags and set them up under the Christmas tree, positioned where our heads were under the tree looking up through all the lights and ornaments. We would sleep like that all night, on the living room floor with lights in our faces. We didn’t necessarily get a good night's sleep, but it sure was fun! Especially when you’re little it feels so adventurous to sleep somewhere that isn’t your bed. My siblings and I would look forward to our night under the tree every year.

What are your favorite holiday traditions? What do you celebrate this time of year and how does it fit into potential sickness? I would love to hear your stories!