Traditions

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  This season brings about all kinds of gatherings, decorations, devotions and traditions.  As I sit in the living room, lit by the Christmas Tree in the dining room, and the twinkling garland atop the antique hutch and entertainment center, my mind drifts back to the 19 Christmases we have shared together.  We began small, just participating in our grandparents and parents celebrations.  We ran from one town to the next, in an attempt to be together with all of our extended family.  We were young, in love, and about to be married.  That first Christmas, we spent our time learning about each of the family members we were about to gain.  We noticed similarities and differences right away.  Both of our dad’s parents always held their celebrations on Christmas Eve.  So, we went to my dad’s mom’s house right away.  Roast beef dinner with all the trimmings filled her round dining room table, and grandma’s three kids, and their kids all piled in.  At that time, none of us grand kids were married, so it was just the six of us plus Beef.  Maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend popped in, but no one was in a serious relationship except us.  So, it was fourteen of us around the dinner table.  After dinner, we celebrated my mom’s birthday, as was tradition.  Cake and ice cream with gifts just for her.  She was thrilled to be having dinner with her family, for her, those gatherings were most precious.  After celebrating my mom’s birthday, we hurried up and opened presents (we usually didn’t hurry, but since Beef and I had to get going, they humored us).  Pops got under the tree and started handing out everyone’s gifts to them.  Each kid gets a spot on the floor, and the packages come.  Opening each one as they come, or waiting to open them all at once.  It was our choice.  We never took turns and waited for the other five grand kids to get theirs open.  It was a present free-for-all and we loved every second of it.  Even into our teenage years!  Grandma, and our parents all hovered around, taking pictures and nodding with excitement at our marvelous gifts.  We were in present heaven.  And usually, we would all look at each other’s gifts, parents would put together necessary parts or add batteries or whatever was required to use the gift.  We would move around and look at our cousins’ toys and gifts, and eventually, our parents got to open their gifts.  But since we had to leave, we made our way to the door, saying our goodbyes on the way.  We rushed the 30 miles to Beef’s dad’s parent’s celebration, which was held at his aunt’s house.  Both of our paternal grandfathers had passed away, but his grandmother had sold their home and got an apartment, so the Christmas was held at Aunt Byrd’s house.  They had all eaten their dinner and gone to church.  They were all sitting around the living room waiting for us to arrive, so that we could open our gifts there.  Aunt Byrd went under the tree, and began handing out presents just like Pops at my grandma’s house.  The only difference was – no one was opening gifts.  Each present came, and it was placed on the stack, and the person continued to visit with those around them.  I could not imagine this process as a child… it must have seemed like forever, waiting for everyone to get all their gifts in a stack.  And then, once all the gifts were handed out, we started, youngest to oldest, and each person opened one gift.  And so it went, round and round, one person, one gift at a time.  Until all the gifts were opened.  It was organized and quiet.  Everyone watched as each person opened and enjoyed their gift.  Each person took their turn.  It was so bizarre to me, who never had experienced anything like that.  It was nice, but definitely different!  At the end of the night, we went home to Grammy and Grampy’s house, and rested for the night.  We all got up the next morning and did the same thing at their house.  Everyone had a stack of gifts.  Everyone took turns opening their presents one at a time.  And when it was over, we headed to his mom’s parent’s home.  There, we had a huge lunch, and his mom and her brothers and sisters all exchanged ornaments and small gifts.  There was canned jams passed around by the oldest granddaughter, and the cousins all sat around and visited.  After all the small, handmade gifts were exchanged, bellies were sufficiently over filled, and everyone had a chance to visit, we headed over the river and through the woods one last time to my mother’s family gathering.  And here we had three or four kinds of soups, meats and breads.  There were dozens of cookies and candies and plenty of finger foods to eat.  We all sat around “grazing” and visiting with our aunts, uncles, and cousins as the laughter and memories stirred the air.

So while the days of celebration were similar (both our father’s families celebrate on Christmas Eve and our mother’s families celebrate on Christmas Day), the theme of each one is different.  We have many traditions to be thankful for which showcase our family’s various ways of gathering and creating memories and traditions, which we will surely carry on.

What was your first Christmas with your spouse or special someone like?  What types of traditions do your families share, and what are different?  Next week, we will look at our Christmases abroad, and talk about how we celebrated Christmas while Beef served in the Navy.