Eating Christmas: Anwar Newton on his hatred of Peeps and his love for his brother

The storytelling show Bar Flies held its annual holiday show in Phoenix this week.

Readers tackled the theme “Eating Christmas,” sharing some of their tales from the table.

Anwar Newton shared a story of brotherhood — and a particular brand of candy.

ANWAR NEWTON: I don't know how well versed you all are on the Easter marshmallow candy, Peeps.

Did you know that Peeps are made year round?

There's Halloween Peeps and red, white and blue patriotic Peeps for Independence Day.

They made green Peeps for St. Patrick's Day and heart-shaped peeps for Valentine's Day. On New Year's Eve, they even make a 400-pound marshmallow Peep that drops to bring in the New Year every year in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Peeps for every holiday occasion.

I hate Peeps.

But I didn't always.

I used to dabble in Peeps when the mood fancied me. I once made the mistake of having a craving for Peeps and telling my brother and his wife that: "I could really go for some Peeps right now."

And so that Christmas as a fun joke, he and his wife got me Peeps — boxes of them, dozens of Peeps in various colors. Gingerbread man-shaped peeps and candy cane-shaped Peeps all for me.

That year, I couldn't have laughed harder at getting them. I was honestly just happy to get to spend Christmas with my big brother and his family. I remember every Christmas spent with my older brother when I was a wee lad. He was 13 years my senior. So when he turned 18 and went to college, I was still just 5 years old.

He was kind of a big deal — first of my mother's children to graduate college, the Naval Academy at that. He played football, the Navy star runningback. So getting to spend Christmas Day at the house was rare for him.

After he graduated, he moved to another state. So even fewer Christmases were spent at the house.

When he did get to visit Christmas, he'd often bring the newest video games he'd bought that my mother could never afford. And then Christmas was spent ignoring him and burrowing our heads into those games we never got to own.

But now as an adult, for the first time in my life at the age of 24, I lived near my big brother. This champion of the family and his wife and three kids. And this Christmas Peeps were hilarious. Then came next Christmas. Guess what I got for Christmas that year?

That's right: [explitive] Peeps.

The Peeps in their boxes now laughing at me — emerald green Christmas-tree shaped marshmallows lined in their box like a row of festive middle fingers.

I gave a forced smile to my brother and his wife as I folded one of the Peeps into my mouth to show my appreciation.

Then the next Christmas, more Peeps. And the next Christmas, more Peeps. And every Christmas after that for the next 10 years, it became a Christmas tradition spent with my big brother that I got Peeps as my Christmas gift. The joke became mandatory with him and his wife.

I never had the stomach to tell him I actually [explitive] hated them. I would just secretly trash them after sacrificially choking one down with a smile. Can't break tradition.

Some years, I hoped he would just give me the money he'd set aside for several boxes of Peeps. Every Christmas, there is definitely a cellphone bill's worth of Peeps sitting under that tree, any given year. Anything but the [explitive] Peeps, you know.

But this is what I always wanted as a kid, to be at my brother's house for Christmas. And she was a little different than I pictured when I was young. But I didn't take these Christmas to shared with him for granted.

My brother and his family eventually uprooted and moved across the country after 10 years of spending Christmas together.

And I hate to admit it, but that Christmas, I had a craving for Peeps.