A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote involves a boy, nicknamed “Buddy,” recalling his Christmas memory twenty years after the experience. He was seven years old in the story where he lived with his cousin who was “sixty-something.” The story portrays him and his cousin not having much and living with other cousins who do not seem to like or think much of them either. The theme of the story appears to be emphasizing to the reader the significance of cherishing one’s times spent with friends and family. Throughout the story, “Buddy” and his cousin have very little money and keep a secret “Fruitcake Fund” just for the time of the year when they bake fruitcakes together. The tradition of baking fruitcakes for “people [they’ve] met maybe once, perhaps not at all,” happens in November when it becomes “fruitcake weather,” according to Buddy’s cousin. Buddy forms a tight bond with his older cousin and it appears that she is probably his best friend. The tradition of baking fruitcakes every year is an endeavor in itself for him since they are always tight on money, and do little things here and there to earn the little money they have. This story demonstrates to the reader that you do not have to have money to be happy, and shows that there is much more to life. The adventures that Buddy and his cousin experienced were memories in themselves. Towards the end, buddy is sent off to military school where he says “[t]hose who Know Best decide[d] that I belong in a military school. Buddy and his cousin continue to write to one another, but his cousin’s age begins to show more and more in the letters as she starts to confuse Buddy with her friend Buddy from the 1880s. He is heartbroken when he knows that his cousin has passed. This story continually emphasized to the reader that no matter what others think, one should cherish the moments spent with friends and loved ones, and also hold onto those memories and traditions accumulated through one’s experiences.