Wherever Gracie Hill’s traveling Christmas gathering takes place, two things you can count on for sure: It starts four or five days before the holiday, and there is a whole lot of good food to enjoy in the days leading up to the holiday and the day of.
It doesn’t matter if the celebration and blending of families takes place in San Antonio, Dallas, New Waverly, or Waco; the four- to five-day gathering is everything to the Texas Southern sophomore volleyball player.
“During that time, we have a cookoff each day. It’s a Christmas tradition,” Hill said. “So one day it’s like seafood night, one day it’s barbeque and the next day it’s soul food and then we’ve had the big Christmas Day meal. Everybody around the house helped.
“We’re in the Christmas spirit, Christmas songs going on, drinking hot cocoa and doing all of those things. Each day is something new. Siblings, cousins – we all help our aunts and grandmas’ cook. It’s what I really look forward to on Christmas. The days leading up to the hype are my favorite memory. Lots of food. Good memories for sure.”
And whose dish is always the best?
“Definitely my grandma on my dad’s side. We call her Nana and she has won every time.”
Hill says she is really not into gifts, so nothing really stands out from her childhood. But Hill’s sister, Journey, surprised her with a gift that she didn’t dare ask for.
“I don’t know what year this was but there was this very popular influencer, YouTuber, who dropped this collection of hair care stuff, bonnets and sleep ware and all of that stuff and I wanted it so, so bad,” Hill recalled. “I knew my parents weren’t going to get it because they couldn’t keep up with YouTube stuff.
“My second oldest sister got it for me on Christmas and I didn’t think I was going to get it. I was super surprised and that was one of the best gifts. I still remember that one, so it’s got to be good because most of them I don’t even remember. That was definitely one that I remember because I didn’t think I was going to get that.”
This year’s Christmas celebration should be memorable for Hill and her immediate family, as well. That’s because the multiple-day holiday celebration is coming through Houston.
“We are actually hosting for the first time, so all of our family is coming to Houston and my daddy owns an Airbnb, so everybody is going to be able to stay with us in this Airbnb. And we are going to host and that’s never happened.
“We’ve always gone to a grandparents’ house or even like an aunt but never like everybody comes to Houston. So, I’m excited to see how that is going to go. It’s reconnecting with my cousins that I only get to see on holidays. We’ve been missing a couple of holidays so I’m real excited to just reconnect, get to see everybody.”
It’s even worth it knowing that the heaviest lift will fall to Hill and her family here.
“We have to decorate, clean — it’s so much,” she said. “But we have a team, it’s a lot of us so we are going to have to do it together to make it work.”
Hill, like most of the athletes we watch compete, come from big families and grew up making treasured Christmas Day memories with their loved ones. Here are a few of the stories we found fascinating.
TARI EASON, Rockets Forward
Christmas Day was always a festive time around the Eason household. Eason remembers great times and lots of family gathered together in one special place.
“Being at my grandma’s house and my whole family being at grandma’s house,” Eason said. “Us just all being there together. I think the thing about the holidays, at least for me as I’ve gotten older, is how it brings your family together and how vitally important those moments are. You only have so many Christmases with certain family members. You don’t really appreciate it as a kid, but as you get older, you realize the value of family, especially around the holidays because it’s not all the time that your whole family is together in one place.”
Eason received many gifts over the year, including a basketball and a basketball hoop. But one gift really stands out from when he was about 9 or 10 years old.
“One of my favorite memories is I got a drum set, a full-on drum set,” Eason recalled with a broad grin. “And I put it in my grandma’s house and everyone was excited for me – until I started actually playing the drums. My grandma was like, `That sh*t is loud.’ I think it was ironic that they got me a drum set but was like, `You can’t be playing that sh*t, though.’”
A drummer he wasn’t. A music enthusiast he has always been.
“I just love music and everybody knows that I love music and when you love it enough, you want to make it.
“I was probably 9 or 10 years old. But I was fascinated with instruments and wanting to learn how to play an instrument. I thought the drums were pretty cool, just keep it down. It was pretty short-lived. We got rid of that drum set pretty fast.”
WILL ANDERSON, Jr. Texans defensive end
Texans defensive end Will Anderson, Jr. comes from a sizeable family comprising his five older sisters and parents, Tereon and Will Anderson, Sr. Christmases were always fun and full of love. His parents did their best regarding presents with six children to buy for.
“It was a regular Christmas, wake up early, and open presents and stuff like that,” said Anderson, who will spend this Christmas working when the Texans host Baltimore at NRG Stadium. “But like I said, my parents did their best with what they had. Even at times some of us were ungrateful, but we look back and we are appreciative of it because at least our parents did try. We did have a good Christmas.”
But last year — his first as an NFL player who had been drafted third overall by the Texans — things were a lot different during the Christmas Day celebration.
“Last year was the first time we had all of our family together,” Anderson said. “It was really wholesome, and it just felt like one of the best Christmas’ that we’ve had where everybody could get gifts. Growing up, I have a big family and my family had to make a way for everybody. And last year, everybody was able to get something and share the love. It was just one to remember. We had family over, food and it was great.”
DANIELLE HUNTER, Texans defensive end
Christmas Day was always a little tropical for Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter growing up in Jamaica.
There was always lots of family around and great times on Christmas Day, but there was no snow like he always saw on television. But that changed when the former Morton Ranch product was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.
“Let it Snow” took on a whole new meaning.
“My favorite memory was when I was in Minnesota and my family came up there for the snow. It was the first time I ever had a snowy Christmas,” Hunter said. “So being around my family and a lot of snow was like a memory (I won’t forget).”
It was in stark contrast to what he was used to climate-wise and also culturally once his family moved to the United States.
“I came from Jamaica, so we really didn’t know what it was like to have a lot of things,” Hunter said. “But I feel like the biggest thing was spending time with family. Down there, it wasn’t really about gifts and all of that. It was really about being around family. Coming to America, I see a different perspective. Growing up it was just being thankful for being around family.”
