If you’re reading this, it’s the day after Christmas, which is known as Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and some parts of the British Commonwealth. That fact really isn’t important to us Americans, but I thought it would be fun to share. In the world of fútbol, I think Liverpool are playing Leicester City today. I dislike both teams, so I predict a draw. Hopefully that helps my team, Arsenal, out with the whole “winning a league title” thing.

In the other football, my alma mater will face Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. I know next to nothing about Notre Dame, despite the fact that when I was a high school senior I actually applied to go there for college because (a) it’s not in Georgia (b) it’s a Catholic university, so my parents would be keen, and (c) it’s not in Georgia.

At that age, like most high schoolers, I wanted to leave my hometown in dramatic fashion, much like Soairse Ronan’s character in “Lady Bird”. But then I snapped out of it and chose in-state tuition and Classic City Lager. Five years later, I think I made the right choice.

Anyways, you might notice that the paper’s layout looks slightly different (or not, I honestly don’t know). It’s because at the time of me typing out this column, I am currently on a plane to Miami with my mother en route to visit my grandmother and aunts and cousins in Colombia.

The trip is extra special because my mom hasn’t spent a Christmas break in Colombia since she came to this country, exactly 30 years ago. When she calmly stated this fact to me, readers, I was stunned.

Call me a big softie, but I love Christmas and can’t imagine not being with my stupid family members around a televised yule log eating glazed ham and opening small presents. I love my mom, dad, and older brother to bits, even if I can be a grump sometimes.

My mom is stronger than I know; she must have missed her mom a lot too over the years, even though my abuela is also crazy in her own right. She is 84 years old, lives in a small house on the corner of a busy street, and her favorite pastimes are completing crossword puzzles, not cooking, gossiping loudly with her next-door neighbors, and shooing stray cats away from her porch.

My cousin Javier lives with her, but he is hardly ever home. Much like my brother, he’s always at work or out with friends until late at night. One gripe my mom has with my abuela is that she doesn’t like to wear her reading glasses because she thinks they make her look “old,” which is frankly a silly thing for an 84-year-old woman with a mane of gray hair to say to her daughter, who wears glasses all day, every day.

But whenever my mom does point such things out, my abuela usually takes her suggestions to heart. I get the feeling that my mom is the only one out of her (eight!!) children that she listens to.

My mom has always been the responsible one in her family; in good times and bad times, everyone flocks to her for help. I joke that she must feel like a receptionist, answering WhatsApp calls from relatives who need things, even if it is just a shoulder to cry (or yell) on.

I like to think that I take after my mom, but I feel like my demeanor is closer to my abuela’s; I too love crossword puzzles and not cooking if I can help it.

We also share an apathy toward public transportation; she takes taxis everywhere because she has a hard time walking too far or taking crowded buses to the big supermarkets in the city center.

But the biggest thing we have in common is an appreciation of print media. When I told her over the phone that I had gotten my current position, she was beaming with pride, and made a point of showing me all the print newspapers she likes to purchase and read every week.

The title of “editor” being bestowed upon her granddaughter seemed incredible for a woman who was only able to finish primary school. (Who’s cutting onions on this plane? I’m tearing up and I can’t open a window!….)

OK, I have been writing (typing) too much on this trip, so I’ll end this column here. I would like to wish everyone reading this a joyful holiday season filled with food, family, and laughter, and I’ll continue my silly little column/diary/poetry slam thing next year.

Andrea Gutierrez is the editor of the Bryan County News. Gutierrez would also like to wish everyone reading this sentence a Happy Boxing Day, if they celebrate it.