Christmas Stories From Hearth to War Zone

We asked, and you delivered: your most memorable Christmas stories. Weird, wild, and wonderful. We’ll all listen.

The Christmas story is pretty cool all on its own. Manger, baby, shepherds. Angels and kings. But there are Christmas stories all over the place. Not necessarily glorious, or even Christian. It's such a big holiday, it rolls over all of us. Sometimes with loneliness. Sometimes with hope. Sometimes with joy. Or just Christmas chaos. It's Chritmas Eve. We invited your stories. You delivered. And the phones are open. This hour On Point: Christmas stories — funny, sad, wonderful — on Christmas Eve.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Kevin Allison, comedic writer, actor and host of the storytelling podcast, RISK! (@thekevinallison)

Albany Democrat-Herald: Think Too Much: Christmas stories trigger flood of emotions --"Some themes emerge with regularity: Writers reflect on how their parents scrimped and sacrificed to bring them happier holidays. Others marvel at how the holidays bring together families for beloved traditions – and other reflect on how those traditions sometimes fuel stressful situations. Most of them have happy endings, but not always – and even in many of the happy stories, a sense of loss is palpable just underneath the surface."

The Guardian: Light And Space — "As I tiptoed towards Feretory with that fire axe on Christmas morning, I told myself that I was there to destroy the resin empress. But Hudson-Glasser 11 is mightier than a will as weak as mine."

The New Yorker: The Christmas Miracle -- "I am telling this story to you, K, even though you are a Russian Communist and a Jewish person who doesn’t believe Jesus was the son of God, and even though Christmas is an obnoxious holiday when millions of people decapitate pine trees and watch them slowly die in their living rooms, because miracles can happen on any day, and as long as man has existed he’s celebrated this weirdest time of year, the shortest stretch of sunlight, the winter solstice, as a time of fear, change, courage, and passion. I’m going to tell you the story of a miracle that happened at Christmas."