For the love of Christmas: why this is my favourite time of year

Tradition, religion and time spent with loved ones seem to be the key ingredients for a merry Christmas. Three Christmas enthusiasts tell Christine Spiteri about why they love Christmas and how this year will be different.

Stephen Schembri - Florist 

Stephen’s earliest Christmastime memory dates back to when he was six years old. His father would unpack the dusty Christmas tree and, on December 8, the whole family would dress it up in a mismatch of shiny baubles, little ornaments and strings of twinkling lights. 

[attach id=1003547 size="large" align="left" type="image"]Stephen Schembri [/attach]

 “Looking back, it may not have been the most beautiful Christmas tree,” he recounts, “but the yearly ritual of the four of us coming together around the tree is probably when the seed was planted and my love for Christmas continued to bloom each year.”

Then five years ago, Stephen’s grandmother passed away and Christmastime acquired a new meaning.

“My nanna loved Christmastime, and I’ll never forget how her face lit up when she saw the tree. She had dementia, and even though she barely remembered the townhouse she lived in for 54 years, the sentiment of Christmas was something she...