Making Christmas Special Again. Annie O'Neil

soldier, Max had his own particular days he didn’t like. Unlike her, he didn’t seem all that interested in trying to tap into any tendrils of Christmas cheer lurking somewhere in his heart. For the past thirteen years it had been like a mission for her. Which maybe defeated the purpose—pounding a square peg into a round hole—but there was something about Christmas that sang to her and she wanted to find that music again.

      From a very early age she had believed that Christmas was magical. The decorations, the frenzied build-up, the secrets. More than any of those, though, she’d always loved the giving. Much more than the receiving. Seeing the joy on someone’s face when they opened an unexpected present, or a child who had their first proper spin round the ice rink at the Christmas carnival, or someone’s eyes widening as the first snowflake of the season landed on their mittened palm...she loved it. She just wished that the joy of the season touched her heart the way it used to.