It is the holiday season. Homes are decorated in special ways. Lights appear in windows and on bushes. Choral concerts feature age-old melodies. Stores stay open longer for shoppers. Traditional recipes are made, and family and friends make extra efforts to get together.

As I think about the holidays, it strikes me that we experience them through all our senses: smell, taste, touch, sound and sight. The smell of fresh pine and our favorite cookies cooling on the counter. Adding our personal touch as we wrap presents. Hearing familiar music in the stores, in our homes and at our children’s concerts. Enjoying a special treat that you only have at this time of year (eggnog? Grandma’s ginger cookies? That cheese ball that only comes out in December?). And I hope that many of you enjoyed the sight of the Children and the Arts Lantern Parade in Peterborough on Dec. 2. That was truly a sight to behold.

The season brings with it many memories. Some are sweet and some are bittersweet. As I put up the ornaments on our tree each year, I am flooded with memories. So many of the ornaments have a story. The star my father made as part of his occupational therapy recovering from his World War II injuries. The Swedish ornaments including the tomte and Swedish flag garland (Dave’s heritage). The lobster buoy in red and white, because yes, you need to give a nod to my heritage, as well. There is the wooden apple that our firstborn thought was a real apple and her tiny teeth marks are evident. The handmade ornaments made by the girls, the ornaments from our travels, the gifts from friends. Almost all have a story.

The year my mother died after suffering from severe dementia for years, I worked through my grief as I baked for my family. As I pulled out the traditional recipes, I remembered my mother in her best years. I remembered her humming as she baked her cookies, letting me choose the cookie cutters from the big tin, the very tin where I still keep the cookie cutters. I made her macaroons, Needhams (a Maine candy recipe using mashed potatoes), the peppermint meringues. I made them in her memory with joy and the pain of her last disease faded.

Wherever we spend this holiday season, whatever our traditions, whoever we are with, there is beauty to behold, peace to absorb and people around us to cheer. As we look around, we will find we have a smile we can give, a moment to share, a friend to embrace.  

Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us at The River Center.

Margaret Nelson is executive director of The River Center in Peterborough.