Christmukkah!

Because of our recent 10-day trip to Southern California, my wife, Terrie, and I were late getting into the holiday season this year.

But having secured our Christmas tree last Monday, lit our Menorah for the eighth and final night of Hanukkah on Thursday, strung lights on Friday and completed decorating over the weekend, we can relax a little and enjoy.

In our household, it’s finally Christmukkah time!

Our interfaith partnership is one in which we celebrate all of the significant holidays, ceremonially and gastronomically (see recipes like this, or this, on her blog, ComfortduJour.com). Because Christmas and Hanukkah are so close, and frequently overlap, we wind up with the hectic period we call Christmukkah.

The sharing of traditions and openness with which we each explore each other’s religions—Terrie being Christian and me Jewish—is one of the strengths of our marriage.

In counseling individuals and occasionally when I have the joy to do family therapy, I often discuss that it doesn’t matter how different two individuals are. A great relationship is about being open to learning about the other; finding the will to overcome potential barriers such as religion, personality type or educational differences.

Celebrating differences by being curious during a time of year that can be crazy stressful defines a quote I’ve long had taped to my desk at CareNet Counseling, where I work: “The antidote to anxiety is curiosity.”

However you mark your holidays, may this be a year of serenity and connection. “Peace and love,” as Ringo Starr always says.