blog post
Here we are; it's the holiday season
Memories, etc.
I'm starting this post the day after Thanksgiving. We are now, officially or not, in what is called the holiday season.
Do the holidays always stir up memories for you, as they do for me? And most of those memories are good ones in my case; I hope and pray it is the same for you. If not, I hope you are making good memories for yourself and those you care about.
Childhood Thanksgivings were almost always spent with Aunt Kitty, Uncle Louie, and their three kiddos. Cousins Linda and Laurie were just a little older than myself; fascinating girls with their added wisdom and experiences. We always had the luscious traditonal dinners with easy conversation, Uncle Louie's wit, and Aunt Kitty's wonderful laughter.
Before too long there were the televised afternoon football games because the oldest girl cousin now had a boyfriend who was an avid fan. My dad didn't care for football, so he took us bowling on Thanksgiving afternoon. Great fun.
But before there were boyfriends and football, there was something just as good. After dark we would drive downtown to see the just revealed Christmas window display at the big department store downtown. They were among the first in our area to have elaborate Christmas theme window displays complete with animated figures, many of them comical and clever. The adults enjoyed it just as much as the children did, and there was always crowd.
It would be cold on a late November evening in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, but we didn't mind. The whole day was magical for us, from the dinner to the return to Auntie's house for turkey sandwiches and dessert.
It just doesn't get any better.
But it did! Then there was Christmas. Looking back now, I can see those big holiday plans back then must have been a huge hassle for my parents; especially my mother. But for me it was a magical time of family parties, school parties, the Sunday school Christmas program (always on Christms eve), trips back to Sheboygan for Christmas shopping, endless baking, house decorating, gift wrapping.
Then there was the Christmas when there were still only three of us kids, memorable because on Christmas day dad and my siblings were all in bed with the measles. Not so much fun, but great for story telling later.
I could go on and on.... maybe I'll reminisce a little more during December, but for now there is one more thing:
In our home, in our extended family, in our community, there were two things central in Thanksgiving and Christmas. The theme for the former was well, being thankful! Our parents knew what it was to live during depression and war times, through deprivation and months of husbands and sons serving overseas. Uncle Louie was wounded in Europe.
At Christmas the birth of Christ was central. All of the giving, the receiving, the celebrations, He was the focus of it all.
In my home it's still like that; thankfulness for all of God's goodness, and for the greatest gift of all.
Happy holidays!
ReplyDeleteI'm the rare bird whose favorite holiday is not Christmas, but Easter. Christmas always seemed to be a time of chaos and conflict in the unhappy household of my childhood, when unreasonable expectations crashed into reality. "Christmas is ruined!" "The dinner is ruined!" (And, often, it was, since my mother didn't like to cook, seldom did cook, and wouldn't take much trouble with cooking.) On top of that, I was sick more often than not. One year, Christmas was ruined when my mother was frantically rushing to get everyone ready for the Christmas Eve service at church and, looking at me, realized I had the mumps!
I'm thankful that I married a man whose family (well, most of it) doesn't do drama. We've hosted Thanksgiving for most of our marriage, though my family no longer joins us and my husband's family has grown much smaller.
George and I have always had a special, just-the-two-of-us, dinner either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on when the family dinner was held. Some years, we exchange gifts though most years, we only exchange token gifts -- premium chocolates, stocking stuffers, little things that catch our eyes.
In the wee, small hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning 15 years ago, I sat alone with my father at a Veterans Administration hospital and held his hand as he took his last breaths. Plenty of people had told me Christmas would be forever ruined if he died on Christmas Day, but they couldn't have been more wrong. I can just remember the years when my father tried to be a good man. I can just forget the years after he gave up. In the end, he was genuinely remorseful and did his best to make amends to everyone he had wronged. Some forgave, others would not. He forgave those, easily, because he felt so unworthy of forgiveness. The last thing I told him, just before he died, was that he was about to find out how much God loved him and always had. He squeezed my fingers, and then he was gone.
That Christmas, my father and I experienced the real gift of Christmas. And every Christmas morning since, often before anyone else is awake, I recall those moments and that gift, and my father is with me again, experiencing Christmas together with our Lord.
Thank you for sharing from your heart, Carole.
DeleteI know that many families - for a lot of reasons- do not make the wonderful memories
we did.
The greatests gift you could give your dad, you did give him. Your forgiveness, and your love. Those are the things your Savior gave You.
Our Christmases are much simpler these days too, but usually no less the sweeter
for us.
Guess it could be said our Thanksgiving was ruined since an ice storm caused a power outage. But I been praying no matter what a day brings I will see it as an opportunity to see God at work and point others to him. This prayer has helped me not to set myself up for disappoint but to be thankful for all the ways God has been at work since the storm hit. God is good. All the time God is good. ♡
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed Thanksgiving and it's always been a favorite holiday of mine. Christmas, not so much. I am certain that I loved it as a child. I do wish all of you the very best of holidays--God Bless you!
ReplyDelete