Attribution: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By Geoff Carter

The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. We are lucky to be able to celebrate with family today, unlike 2020 during the Covid pandemic. That was the first year we celebrated Christmas without family and without observing the holiday rituals. But if that’s all we lost during that terrible year, maybe we should consider ourselves to be the lucky ones.

Even today, there are those without family or friends who will be spending the holidays alone. Yet, no matter the hardship and no matter their means, people will always try to find a way to celebrate.

So, in recognition of our fragile and marginalized citizens who are doing the best they can to make this season festive and joyous, The Pen in Hand would like to present his collection of unconventional Christmas moments—snippets of film, TV, and audio—that celebrate the non-traditional, unusual, and exuberant holiday observances.

***Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story* from *Smoke***

Paul has been commissioned to write a Christmas story and turns to his friend Auggie for help. Auggie tells a surprisingly moving story about loneliness, mistaken identity, mutual deception, larceny, and common human decency. Written by Paul Aster from the film by Wayne Wang with music by Tom Waits.