As far back as I can remember(and take in consideration that I am now 67 years old)
we would awaken before our parents did, or so we thought until later years..We knew to stay in our beds until we heard our parents call us downstairs..I always remember going downstairs (13 of them)with me trying to be first of course, but never quite making it. It is a fact that smaller
children do know how to get down to the bottom of steps faster than a speeding bullet. Before reaching the bottom of the
landing, we each would take time to peer over the right banister which had 6 small columns which we could peer through and see the tree with all the gifts under it,waiting for us..somehow Dad always seemed to get some pictures of each of us doing this, without our knowledge, and those pictures remain some of my favorites.
After we reached the living room, we all sat either on the floor, because that was closer to the presents, or on the couch or chairs, waiting to hear our name be called so we could get our hands
on our presents, one at a time..
I forgot to mention that every Christmas Eve back then, our neighbor would pull
on his Santa outfit(it was the most
beautiful Santa Claus outfit I have ever
seen, and I have seen many. His wife who
loved to sew made it from bright red
velvet, trimmed in white, with boots
that matched, and a huge Santa cap.. it
even impressed me to this day, as my brothers and sisters) Earlier in the day his wife picked up a wrapped gift from each of the neighbors homes. The gift
would be for their children, and then around 7PM Christmas Eve Santa would be seen crossing lawns with a huge Santa
Bag, stopping at 12 or 13 houses with his special present for the children, before he left for his annual Christmas
duties by sleigh and reindeer..His loud
beautiful, "Ho..Ho..Ho" and "Merry Xmas"
is remembered by all those who were
part of this ritual. In later years this
ritual was stopped, because one family
wasout shopping on Christmas Eve, and as
they were driving past our local grocery/beer joint..guess who was seen
carrying his beer jug in to be refilled
and dressed in his finest Santa outfit
going up the steps into the place, while
3 children watched in disbelief..and of
course the response was unanimous, "oh look, there is Mr.Martin..what is he doing going into there in a Santa outfit" and the smaller children said "no, that is Santa" needless to say,
this ritual stopped that year..Seems Santa was feeling too old to do it any
more..
See, I told you I ramble. I do this so
you won't miss out on any aspect of what
I am sharing with you..
Now back to Christmas Day..After me all had opened our presents and many hugs exchanged, it was time to get ready for Church. We all went to 9PM Mass, thanking God of course, for our very nice Christmas. After Mass we all came
back home, played and shared our presents with each other.
Mom and Dad always had the family Xmas party at our house each year..All the relatives brought a dish to feed all those coming there..What a special day
it was, playing with our cousins, who we
really didn't get to see much of, unless it was at a family gathering..There were
also games everybody played together,
along with prizes being given, even back
then.
As the years went by, the size of the family parties grew. My brothers and sisters brought their girlfriends and boyfriends along. At this time I had been married, moved out, and then back in, along with my son, after the divorce.
My Dad's health problems were discovered
He had asthma problems, and several
problems that he had surgery for..like
immature hip sockets, clogged arteries
which involved having an endocterectmy,
and was found to have a blood clot that
doctors did not want to remove, so it remained until the day he died, but he had to take both a blood thinner and a
blood clotter to stabilize this, and he was diagnosed with diabetes also..
So for several years after this time, everybody took a turn at having the annual Christmas parties..Somehow it just wasn't the same. Then I decided to try something different..
Living in a suburban area like we all did, there was a Harley Hotel just about a mile away..I went and talked to them and found out that on Christmas there business was slow. I asked how much it would cost to rent out their conference room for our family party on Christmas Day. To my surprise, the cost for me to do this was about the same amount I would be paying to buy a present for each member of the family and friends.
By this time my son was in his senior year of high school and would become a
big part of our new Christmas Day activities. Also at the time of this new transition, I had remarried, had a daughter, and became a widow. My daughter was 10 years old by now..So there were 3 sets of minds and hands at
work here now..
The TV show "Lets make a deal" was
very popular. So my son, who is a very good artist, among other things, made up 3 cardboard doors on one of the tables at the front of the conference room, so anyone sitting at any of the 13 round tables in the room would be able to see what was going on. They read, Door #1, Door#2 and Door #3..since everybody knew
what the context of the show was, they
put anything you could think of into their purses or pockets they thought we
might ask them for..
As part of our decorations in the room
we made sure we had signs advertising
the show, Lets Make a Deal Here Today.
We had filled both bathtubs in the room with ice and had lots of liters of pop covered up and waiting..We had all the catered food keeping cool in the trunk of our car..potato chips and pretzels were on each table with refills on the shelves. We had a long cloth reaching to the floor on the front table where the door boxes stood. No one knew what was under that table except the three of us.
We had shopped all over to find little gag gifts that only cost 2-3 dollars each, and carefully wrapped enough little presents so each person coming would receive 3 gifts by the end of the game. All were underneath the table, and my son had even put each persons name on the gift, with a #1,2 or 3 on it..because we had bought some of the gag gifts to suit them especially..but they didn't know this..I manned the microphone..calling on each person and asking if they had a specific item in their possession, if they did, they came down to the door table and were given the option of what door they wanted to open..and of coarse, no matter which door they opened, behind each was the gift we had chosen just for them..then I called on the next person and so on until this had been done 3 times per person..My son and daughter also had their chance to man the microphone and ad-lib their way through the game..It was a huge success..I had to laugh at my Dad's reaction.."I only got two presents and everybody else got 3" I told him if he had been on time as everybody else was, he would have gotten three.. The next year, I might add, he was the first to arrive and took a seat up front)
In between playing the game, we stopped after everybody had 1 gift, in order to have everybody open up the different gifts they had received from other family members..and to talk to each other some more..then of course Dad was wanting to game to continue..So on we played, through the second round.
We decided to eat after 2 rounds of the game..My son and daughter went out to our car which was parked almost by the outer door to the lot. When some of the kids saw food coming they ran to hold open the doors. Everybody helped get the food set up on the buffet tables at the back of the room..Since nothing needed to be heated up, all were ready to have a feast. We always ordered meat trays with ham,turkey,roast beef..3 different cheeses, relish tray, all condiments needed, 3 different kinds of bread, paper plates, utensils, paper cups,you name it, we didn't forget it..others brought side dishes to share, like fruit salads, pies, cakes, and we had plenty of stuff to drink, just no alcoholic beverages allowed...after we were all stuffed and mellowed down, the games continued..
Thank goodness there were 2 big bathrooms at each end of the room..You never saw such a mad scramble to them in order to get back in their chair for the last round..Everything leftover food-wise had been covered up and every scrap of paper, and used paper plates,napkins, cups, utensils were all nicely thrown away in a very large trash bag.
So the final round of our game began and everybody was all sugared up and ready to play..This round was always the fastest. Guess it was because it was around 6PM by then and lots of the kids were getting antsy or tired, because it was a long day, from 1PM until now. Have to admit that I was slowing down a bit also, which I blamed it on the good food and company..After the game was over everybody helped us pack up the doors carefully, because as one put it so nicely, "they will be as good as gold until next year" as my son and daughter looked at each other and me and we all
smiled..we knew a hit when we saw one,
we would be having the family party here next year, same time, same place..and Mom and Dad could just relax and just
enjoy their family and participate more.
The new generation had taken over the reins and were ready with more new ideas already running through our heads..
We all just formed a big circle around Mom and Dad, who were sitting on the big couch, with some of the grandchildren sitting along side of them and on them..what pictures they turned out to
be..this also started the tradition of having each family sitting at one of the round party tables together, or together on the big couch and having their family picture taken..and everybody had copies made of everybody else's family pics to add to their collections..
A very Merry and Happy Christmas Day it was for everybody. This tradition continued for many years. Until health problems changed for a lot of us and our annual parties..
My Dad died of a massive coronary in 1988, My one brother lives in California, one sister lives in Pennsylvania. We kept up the tradition
each year in some way or form, but not the big one at the Harley each year, which went on for 5 years until it stopped.
My health problems started in 2000, my Mom passed away in 2001, one of my brothers who loved having the family
cookouts, died in 2002. So now we children are down to 7. My daughter, who
is happily married and has 3 beautiful
sons, has been having the Family Christmas Party at her house for the last 3 years..Everybody goes to her house, brings a dish, she supplies all the other necessities, and we all even
play a game..The Big White Elephant Gift
Exchange..anyone who participates has to bring a wrapped gift, funny or otherwise,worth at least $10. No names or tags are placed on these gifts..They go under the tree. When it is time to play, numbers are put into a bag, amounting up to how many have brought a gift for this game, and only those bringing one can choose one as their number is called..the person who has number 1 chooses any gift they want..goes pack to their seat and opens it, and oohs and aahs, they the number two is called, and that person goes up and chooses any gift, opens it and decides whether they want to keep that gift they picked or take number 1's gift instead..and so the game continues until everybody who brought a gift has one in their possession..then the person who had number 1 is allowed to exchange a gift with any of the others at this time..because number 1 had no chance to
exchange with anybody if they wanted to..sometimes people do not want to part with what they have chosen, but rules are rules..with such a big family playing it is hard to remember who has what, and the kids are good at forgetting where they put their gift, ha ha..and it just isn't the kids who hide their newly acquired gifts..I never did know how that $10 gift certificate wound up in my sweater pocket..hmmmm? One of my own grandkids told on me..the little booger...
So this is what my son and I will be
doing tomorrow, Christmas Day..and for
many a year to come..Just having another special family get-together..
Merry Christmas everybody..enjoy your special day also..
The familiar lament of dual-career parents raising children is, "I just can't do it all." The Libra Solution provides an alternative - a more satisfying and sustainable work and life approach - to the overwrought modern day norm.
It's almost Christmas. Lynn Basil is writing her last book about a secret entrance into the magical doll land of Sha Bebe that she loves so much. Bagannos have taken over the world! Lynn finally meets her dolls in real life. Can she write in a Secret
The familiar lament of dual-career parents raising children is, "I just can't do it all." The Libra Solution provides an alternative - a more satisfying and sustainable work and life approach - to the overwrought modern day norm.
