Tonight is night 6 of Hanukkah. It has made me think of some interesting stories from my past.

Many years ago I arrived home for Christmas. We did the normal family activities including opening gifts on Christmas morning. As my brother began handing out the packages I noticed a number of them were wrapped in blue paper. As my pile began to grow, I noticed the blue paper was Hanukkah paper, so I gently asked my mom about it. She said that she had gotten it on sale at the Dollar Store and thought it was pretty. I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't Christmas paper.

I'm not sure she would have known what Hanukkah is. I grew up in Kentucky and didn't meet my first Jewish person until I moved to Atlanta in 1987. It's not that there was prejudice against Jews, or people didn't like them, it's just there weren't any, at least not in my school.

In 1987 while living in Atlanta I worked as a waiter at Bennigan's Restaurant at Lenox Mall. It was my first time waiting tables and it was the beginning of my coming out of the closet. That Christmas my new friend S.W. (we are friends to this day) hosted a Jewish Christmas party. I was confused. I was educated enough to know that Jews don't celebrate Christmas so I wasn't sure what the deal was. I finally cornered S.W. to ask her. It turns out her roommate celebrated Christmas and although S.W. was Jewish she had always had a Christmas tree. It was a long story but she explained the reasons.

I said thank you and then kissed her since we were standing under the mistletoe. I came out of the closet the next day. But S.W. was the beginning of many wonderful Jewish people that I have met. Of course she's the only one who celebrates Christmas.