The Empower Team Shares: “What’s Your Fav Holiday Memory?”
As the holiday season approaches, we can’t help but feel a little nostalgic. We asked some of the Empower Brokerage team, “What’s Your Favorite Holiday Memory?” Come walk down memory lane as they share some of their most memorable holiday moments.
Macee Hall
Many of Marketing Specialist Macee Hall’s favorite holiday memories center around her family. Her favorite memory, she says, is when her childhood golden retriever opened a pack of treats without popping the plastic packaging. “Abby was always a super gentle dog for her size. I got her some treats when I was six or seven and wrapped them with the other gifts. She would sniff at her present, but left it alone until Christmas eve when the rest of us were unwrapping presents,” she recalls. “Abby put her present between her paws, curled her lips back, and unwrapped the whole thing with her teeth. It was crazy. She was the best.”
Lori Benold
 Austin-based Regional Sales Director, Lori Benold, was a professional dancer in a previous career. She fondly remembers spending most of the time leading up to the holiday season rehearsing and performing in the ballet, The Nutcracker. “When I danced professionally with the San Francisco Ballet, we did over 40 performances of it each year!” Lori recalls. That is Lori dancing in the Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker when she guested with the Corpus Christi Ballet. Thank you for sharing this wonderful memory, Lori!
Jadon Sennet
When Product Specialist Jadon Sennet was eight years old, he woke up Christmas morning to find an enormous, wrapped present from Santa. It took several minutes to open as he went through each wrapped layer, like nesting dolls, only to find coal at the bottom. “Looking back on it now, I was so upset and spoiled. I wish I could see my face knowing Santa put me on the naughty list,” Jadon recalls. Fortunately for naughty eight-year-old Jadon, Santa hid more presents under the tree for him, saving Christmas. Santa sure has a sense of humor!
Enrique Torres
Life and financial specialist Enrique Torres shares his favorite Christmas memory from when he was nine or ten and lived in Lansing, Michigan. “Hot Wheels and the Hot Wheels race track is what I wanted from Santa,” Enrique recalls. He can vividly remember going to the local Meijer’s Thrifty Acres (the Walmart back in the day) with his family and spending the entire trip in the toy aisle gazing at Hot Wheels. On a snowy Christmas morning, Enrique woke to see that Santa had laid out a fully assembled Hot Wheels racetrack along with half a dozen Hot Wheels cars in front of the Christmas tree. He excitedly woke his parents and two teenage brothers and sister, proclaiming that Santa came. “I can still hear the roar of the supercharger garage propelling each car along the raceway!” That story makes us so happy for young Enrique.
Jeffrey Cooperstein
For Jeffrey Cooperstein, Empower Brokerage’s social media guru, his favorite holiday memory is one of gratitude during a difficult period in his life. When he was in the fifth grade, he suffered an asthma attack during the week of Hanukkah, which also coincided with the last week of school before Christmas. Upon returning home from a three-day stay at the hospital, his classmates surprised him at his house to make sure he was okay. “It was so heartwarming. Even as a young kid who didn’t really understand the world, my classmates coming to make sure I was okay gave me a true sense of holiday spirit. From then on, I have always been thankful for this time of year.” *sniff sniff* Hey, who’s chopping onions?
