Merry Christmas! And you’re right, I don’t celebrate Christmas, being Muslim, but I love participating in the celebration of it. I grew up wistfully and excitedly delighting in intricate Christmas light displays, listening to Christmas music in department stores, and playing, in numerous orchestra concerts, Christmas music from Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Bells to Handel’s Messiah. My parents exchanged gifts with some of their Christian friends and I sometimes exchanged gifts with my school friends. I didn’t mind Christmas around me; in fact, I felt left out when I couldn’t participate.