My family has tradition at Christmas. While traveling to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house, my mind sets on Grandma’s Christmas Eve ham. I look forward with anticipation to enjoying the traditional Christmas ham. My mind remembers how the Christmas ham has tasted in previous years. Sweet, juicy, and nothing short of delicious.

On Christmas Eve, I burst open the door with my parents and brother to the smell of juicy root beer ham floating through the air. I hear Grandma open the oven door with a creak. She hurries back to baste the ham one last time. My tingling tongue sticks out, seeing the juicy ham with a pair of polished pineapple slices on the top.

I ask Grandma, “When is the ham going to be ready?” Grandma replies,“Soon, dear.”

Now, my family must wait for all my uncles, aunts and cousins to arrive. This makes it harder to wait longer without temptation to eat the ham. One by one, family members gather and we greet each other with huge hugs and kind kisses.

The time comes to finally fill our plates full. The serving platter is piled high with steaming hot ham. I want to munch and chomp down on the ham. I try to stab my fork into the juicy ham to sneak a taste.

But wait! One more thing must first happen. Most important, the Christmas blessing prayer.

Grandma says, “If I told you all once. I told you all a hundred times. We must bless our Christmas meal.”

My family circles the table holding hands. After the prayer, it is time to eat. Forks held high, the family digs in. It tastes of brown sugar sweetness. The anticipation is over. Hooray! It really is sweet, juicy, and delicious.