{Christmas Past}

At the core of my treasury of priceless childhood memories lie those from the Christmas season. Christmas Eve through January 6th wrapped each day in a special (nay, magical!) bow:

The carload… and trust me, when I say carload, I do mean carload!… of food, snacks and goodies our dear ol’ Gramps delivered without fail. He believed Christmas was the time of bounty and our little hearts and bellies loved him for it!

Love & Miss you, forever, Gramps!

(12-20-2021)

Cutting our tree on Christmas Eve morning; with the entire family piling into dad’s truck and mom forcing everyone to sing along to the caroling sheet she faithfully brought along. The rest of the day was an ecstatic hubbub of activity as we dressed the tree & house in full Christmas attire. A certain someone (we won’t name names) usually had a gift or two to hunt down and that can prove a bit challenging come Christmas Eve afternoon! Yet, come to think of it, in mini-Christmas miracle fashion he somehow always pulled through. The tablecloth & fancy dishes were brought out for mom’s beautifully delicious Christmas Eve supper and then it was off to rest before Midnight Mass.

Regarding Midnight Mass there really are no words. The caroling, the extra candles, Father processing in with Baby Jesus gently cradled in hand to be lovingly set in the creche, the ringing of bells throughout the entirety of the Gloria, wishing anyone and everyone a “Merry Christmas” on the way out and there were quite a few yrs we drove home in a perfect snowfall.

We all know what happens on Christmas morning so no need to go there. But later in the day my parents threw open the door to countless friends. It was a Christmas party in every sense of the word. One that had people dreaming about the next yr’s party as they drove down the driveway. To this day I’m not sure how that dear house didn’t burst at the seams and I would almost bet that my folks still find someone’s random lost sock from time to time.

The following days were plum full of Christmas spirit. Random guests at random times. Games and tea. Meeting up with friends at the ice rink. Playing ‘ambulance’ at the beloved sledding hill. The annual ski day with most of our parish. The pile of Christmas movies.

Life has a way of changing some things. Each tradition and custom won’t always look the same moving forward. However, the light and impression of the things that fall by the wayside can remain kindled while the traditions and customs we tenaciously preserve or valiantly implement will keep a vigorous spirit of Christmas ever new!

While a ‘thank you’ is hardly sufficient, Thank you, Dad & Mom! Xo!