Twenty years ago as Kerry Grinkmeyer and his wife geared up for the holiday season, the Mountain Brook couple felt that something was missing.

As they rushed around to get everything ready the holidays, they couldn’t help but think there was more to the season, Kerry said.

The couple’s 23-year-old son was due home from college, and their daughter was a senior at Mountain Brook High School and about to spend her last Christmas at home before embarking on her own college career.

“Christmas had become this six-week period of preparation for what ended up being a 15-minute event,” Kerry said. “The same excitement wasn’t there. It had become all about the work involved in getting to Christmas.”

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