164. Team Holiday Memories

The Feelings & Co team shares some of their memories ahead of the holiday season.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

INTRO MUSIC

I’m Megan Palmer and it’s going to be okay. 

Here at Feelings Co, and especially at our sister show Terrible Thanks for Asking, we love celebrating the holidays. The happy ish holidays.  Because we know that the holidays are a time not just for cheer and joy, but every kind of emotion and experience.  Me and a couple of my co-workers decided we wanted to share some of our favorite, happyish holiday memories.

So, first up, you’ll hear from Grace, our editorial assistant on the team.

Grace Barry:  Um, one of my favorite holiday memories and one of my earliest memories that’s actually very clear, um, is Christmas with my grandfather before he passed away. Um, so it must have been happening for years before I have concrete memories of it, but we did the traditional, like, leave milk and cookies out for Santa and carrots for him.

The reindeer by the fireplace thing. We did that whole shebang. Um, but we also used to do a little extra. So we’d get all bumbled up in huge coats and scarves and like hats and gloves, and my granddad would scoop me up and take me outside. And we have this big front yard. Um, and in this one memory I have.

this Christmas it had just snowed so the world was all quiet and the snow was fresh and so beautiful.  Um, and we had reindeer food and he gave a handful to me and we counted down and then we scattered it all over the lawn and I remember throwing it as like hard as I possibly could and how much further mine went than my granddad’s which I know now he probably did on purpose to make me feel like I was  super strong. 

Um, but my favorite part of that memory was how he laughed after I did that. Um,  cause I don’t remember his voice now, and it’s hard to conjure up other specific, you know, clear moments that I shared with him. But I remember his laugh that night, cause it was like, one of the warmest sounds that I think I’ve ever heard.

So,  that’s my good holiday memory.

Claire McInerny:  This is Claire McInerny and I’m a producer at Feelings Co.  One of my favorite holiday memories was maybe five years ago. Um,  I had made plans to go see my family at Christmas. And so, um, as someone who lived far away, I, I didn’t  go see them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So for Thanksgiving, I decided to go visit just one of my girlfriends and her and her, you know, husband and kids were going to have a Thanksgiving dinner.

Me and another one of our girlfriends decided to join and because it was just friends and. No huge tradition. We,  because it was just friends and none of us felt pressured to do big traditional things, we ended up spending the holiday  doing like a glamour shoot. So her husband is a photographer and he set up all the, I don’t know what they’re called, but the big lights in the living room.

And we went and threw her clothes and picked out fun vintage pieces she had and faux fur coats she had gotten over the years and curled our hair and put a ton of makeup on. And we just sat in the living room that night and her husband took photos of us. And not only was it so fun, ’cause we don’t get to do stuff like that all the time,  but we now have photos from like, like amazing photos from this holiday that, uh, was spent with people I love and no drama. 

This is Megan again. Before we close out, I wanted to share a happy ish holiday memory that I have. Growing up, I loved the holiday season. It was my favorite. I guess any child might say that, but it was just super special and magical. I think growing up in Minnesota, Where you have such white winters, it feels especially, especially wonderful.

I have so many fond memories of big family meals, exchanging gifts,  and special little traditions, like going to look at Christmas lights with my grandma. However, throughout the years. Because of family drama and petty disagreements,  the family gatherings we had became smaller and smaller  until they weren’t really held at all.

Flash forward to December 2021, I had just graduated college and  I was feeling a little adrift. I really missed that cherished time with the people I loved, but for a handful of reasons it just wasn’t possible.  Instead, I started to think about how I could make the holiday special for myself. So what I decided to do was to host my younger brother and sister in my home in North Minneapolis.

Instead of relying on people older than me in my family to make the day special, I realized that I was the adult. and I could make the day special for myself.  So, I took them, and we went and we picked up sushi, and we ate it for Christmas Eve dinner with my grandmother, and we watched holiday movies together.

Then we went back to my house and we exchanged gifts, we did a ton of holiday cookie baking, and we watched even more movies.  And then what I think is the most fun and unexpected part of all, is that my roommate at the time, and best friend Kat, was working at a church in St. Paul. Kat invited me and my siblings to go to the Midnight Christmas Mass at their church.

Now, me and my siblings were raised atheists, so we had only been to maybe a couple church services each. We did not know much about what was going on, but I thought it would be fun, and I wanted to sing some Christmas hymns and carols. So I dragged them out when it was 10, 11 p. m. on Christmas Eve night.

And we got to sit in these pews and look up at this huge, great, big church and just relish and enjoy the holiday spirit. The holiday season, the cheer, the joy.  I’m not a religious person, but it was incredibly spiritually moving.  It meant so much just for me to spend that time with my siblings, with my grandmother, and to make my own traditions. 

When we woke up on Christmas Day, we all made a big, special breakfast together. We visited my grandmother again. It was overall just a very special holiday season that I will always cherish.  You can make your own traditions. You can make things special for yourself and for others.  From everyone on the Feelings Co. team, happy ish holidays. And don’t forget, it’s going to be okay.

OUTRO MUSIC 

CREDITS