Eight essayists reflect on holiday moments and explore what it means to go home.
While some say you can never go home again, many of us do during the emotionally charged weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. We go there physically or just emotionally, revisiting the places of our childhoods, reconciling our memories with the present or working to create holiday traditions anew. Join The Monthly’s essayists as they reflect on holiday moments and explore what it means to go home.
Oy Tannenbaum! | By Anna Mindess
A nice Jewish girl tries her hand at making Christmas cookies—on television no less.
Anchor Made of Wood | By Ransom Stephens
A 6-year-old boy pounds nails and spills blood to fashion an unusual Christmas present for his aunt.
Dolliver’s Neck | By Sarah Weld
A family house binds relatives together in a web of memories and ghosts on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Visitor | By Christine Schoefer
A foreign guest thrills a young German girl in the 1960s and adds excitement to her already thrilling Christmas Eve in Berlin.
The Ledger | By Melinda Clemmons
Home for the holidays in Illinois, a family uncovers a relative’s diligent accounting of every penny spent from 1877 to 1900, offering up a glimpse of his daily life.
Oma | By Mike Rosen-Molina
A young man’s hasty trip halfway across the world to see a grandmother still bursting with life despite her aging and failing sight.
Home Cooking | By Rachel Trachten
Empty-nesters turn on the stove for their returning children only to discover who they’re really cooking for.
Guacamole and Turnips | By Veronica Chater
A trip to Wales in search of a Dylan Thomas holiday sheds light on one family’s typical balmy Christmas at home in California.
