The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas…

Let's take a pause there. We all know this song, it has stayed with us for as long as Boney M.'s “Mary's Boy Child”. The first day marks the beginning of the Twelve Days of Christmas, a festive Christian season that starts on Christmas Day and ends on 5 January, the day before the Epiphany.

Each day represents a new gift, starting with a ‘partridge in a pear tree’ and ending with ‘twelve drummers drumming.’

But does this spirit have to always end on the twelfth day? What happens after the Twelve drummers drumming? What about the Thirteenth Day of Christmas?

This happens every year. One moment, everything sparkles, the next, it’s quiet again. The tree comes down, the decorations go back in their boxes, and suddenly it is business as usual again.

But maybe the magic isn’t gone. Maybe it just needs to take a different form.

The festive season has a way of softening us. We call old friends, send kind messages, forgive, and make space for joy. It’s proof that, when we try, we can create a world filled with warmth and compassion. The question then is, why should that stop on the twelfth day?

Keeping the festive spirit alive means keeping the best parts of it: gratitude, giving, and connection. It means checking in on people not because it’s the holidays, but because they matter. It’s about lending support when no one’s watching and showing kindness even when it’s inconvenient.

Communities thrive on these small gestures. The kind that builds trust and reminds us we’re not alone. Because every season can be festive when our hearts are open and our actions are kind.

So, when the last ornament is packed away and the calendar flips, don’t let the glow fade. Carry it with you, in your words, in your choices, and in the way you show up for others.

Because the true spirit of the season was never meant to end. It was meant to continue through us, to the Thirteenth Day of Christmas, and beyond.

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