One beautiful snowy morning in December, shortly before Christmas, Grace was listening to Frank Sinatra’s Christmas album and baking chocolate chip cookies in her kitchen when suddenly, she heard a loud knock on her front door. She opened the door to find a small family of Christmas carolers singing “Christmas Time Is Here” from the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas, which happened to be one of her favorite Christmas songs. It was a song that transported her back into her days of early childhood which were the simpler times in her life.

When Grace was growing up, seeing The Nutcracker ballet every year was always one of her favorite things to do during the holiday season because she has always loved getting transported into the magical worlds that Clara and The Nutcracker get to travel through in the ballet. The Nutcracker ballet is something that has brought the magic of Christmas to her for as long as she can remember. Whether you’re like Grace and love “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” or “The Waltz of the Snowflakes,” then The Nutcracker will surely make everyone feel magical if they see it during the holiday season.

Grace grew up in eastern New York in a small town called Evergreen in a tiny light blue house not far from the town square. Her father, Evan, worked as the owner of the local bookshop, The Whispering Pine Bookshop, and her mother, Karen, died when she was five, so she doesn’t have much of a memory of her.
Her sisters, Willow, Harper, and she all attended the same school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and they were always together. The three of them took ballet lessons at Miss Sarah’s Dance Studio, participated in reading groups three days a week after school at the local bookstore, and they took theatre classes at the local theater in town as well. Although the three of them were constantly afraid of going onstage, they still managed to all get small roles in the theater’s annual plays. One year, Grace even played the role of Tiny Tim in the play A Christmas Carol, and her father always remarked that it was one of the best roles she ever played.

Another of Grace’s favorite Christmas memories from when she was growing up was on Christmas Eve when her dad would put on his reading glasses and read the book, ’Twas The Night Before Christmas. Grace and her sisters would gather around the tall, dark green Christmas tree in front of the glowing warm fireplace in their living room while they were dressed in their Christmas pajamas, and they would listen intently as their father would read their favorite Christmas story. Her favorite part of the story was when her dad read the description of Santa Claus because, as a kid, it helped her picture what Santa might look like. Christmas is a time for giving, and the greatest gift of all to Grace, while she was growing up, was spending Christmastime with her father and her sisters because being surrounded by her loved ones during the holiday season was truly magical.

This was written by our editor-in-chief and co-founder, Hanna Perry.