Saturday, December 19, 2015

Deck the Halls

 

Every Christmas is different, depending on where you are in life, and it's one of life's blessings to grow old and have so many Christmas memories.

 

My Christmases started out in a big Norwegian family with aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, cousins, the works. Apparently my great grandma on her death bed had made her daughters promise they would "keep Christmas Eve together" always. It was quite a promise because Grandma Sina didn't take into account basic math -- multiplication to be exact.

The number of people grew. House size did not. By the time I came along, there were a lot of us.

Christmas started at 5 pm on Christmas Eve when the whole clan, dressed in their absolute finest (always new for the children) clothes, crammed into Grandma's house for a sit down meal of turkey and all the trimmings, with three kinds of pie for dessert.

And when I say crammed, I mean when everyone got sat down to eat there was no way for anyone to move. If "someone" (ahem, not saying who it usually was!) had to get up to go to the bathroom, it involved everyone standing, shifting,and moving to make a path. Repeat on the way back to the table.

And when I say "the table" I really mean tableS, one big main table and auxiliary card tables in proximity to "the table" and TV trays for the host and hostess.)

The loon ornament was carved and painted by Connie, Far Side of Fifty blog. It's a little bit of Minnesota here in South Carolina, and I love it!

Before dinner a blessing was said in Norwegian and after three kinds of pie, the Christmas cookies were passed, Jule Kake (Christmas bread), krumkake, rosettes, and some I have no idea how to spell.

While the dishes were being done, which took HOURS with every piece of best china called to service, all those pots and pans, the "good" silverware, we kids sat as close to the Christmas tree and present pile as we could get and looked for gift tags with our name on them. Depending on who was or wasn't watching, we shook them all.

After the present extravaganza (not because each of us had so many presents, more because there were so many OF us) and a path had been cleared through the paper mess, my parent's generation and mine all went to church while the oldest generation stayed home to "get out the midnight supper". I think they probably just wanted to sit in peace and quiet with another glass of sherry (later very sweet Mogan David grape wine) and speak Norwegian.

Not to give away any family secrets, but someone usually brought mistletoe and someone else did not want to be kissed in the doorway every time she walked from kitchen to living room. Uncle Harry or Uncle Harold usually had a bit too much sherry or Mogan David, and one year my dad gave my mom a vacuum cleaner for her Christmas present. It was not a hit. Trying to ameliorate the damage to his reputation, the next year he gave her a nightie in a box with lots of tissue paper which she promptly smashed the top of the box back on and wouldn't let anyone see it.

We returned from church, had a little supper, and put on our new Christmas flannel nightgowns (made by Mom or Grandma) and found a place to burrow among the coats piled on Grandma's bed to sleep until our parents carried us to the freezing cold car for the drive home. Usually someone's car had been sitting in the sub zero cold too long and jumper cables had to be used before everyone was finally off and homeward bound.

Wonderful memories for a kid, the warmth of the house after the cold outside, the smells of food and pine, the love. I would give most anything to be a mouse in the corner at one of those Christmas Eves just one more time!

 

17 comments:

  1. Some wonderful memories. It really does sound idyllic. Wishing you everything that you wish for yourself for Christmas and the new year.

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  2. Isn't Connie's wood carving work fabulous? Congratulations on being one if the winners. I totally agree with the sentiment in the quote you shared. So very true. Thanks for sharing your Christmas memories.

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  3. Lovely Christmas memories that jogged my own memories of long ago. Your home looks cozy while waiting for Christmas.

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  4. So glad to send you a little bit of Minnesota for Christmas! You have some marvelous memories of Christmas Eves past, I enjoyed hearing about them. Looks like you are all set, with even some wrapped packages!! It turned cold here -2 and it will be a white Christmas. :)

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  5. Some lovely memories. Merry Christmas Cynthia, to you and you family.

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  6. What a wonderful post, full of memories of times gone by. It stirred memories of how I spent Christmas as a child so thank you for taking me back there.

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  7. The details in your description of the family gatherings are wonderfully clear and I could envision everything!

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  8. Great memories. Christmas eve at my Grandma's house, Christmas day at our house. Some good memories, some not so. Merry Christmas

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  9. Wonderfully put "memorylogue" - such great memories.
    Hoping 2015 may be just a little bit the same.
    Colin

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  10. Cynthia great memories. I remember my Christmases snowy ones but with a big family gatherings . And the smell of oranges which were only available on Christmas and Easter in communist Poland. It was a great time now all is available but my big family uncles , aunts and grandmotherwsc died... All is gone..

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  11. Cynthia, this is the sweetest Christmas story I've heard. It would make such a pretty little book. Your decorations are beautiful! I felt like I was there, remembering being carried from a warm bed and put in a cold car for the ride home. Oh, I will read this again.

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  12. Lovely story. Mine was different but equally quaint. Doesn't sound like a fun time to my grandkids but it was.

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  13. Great description of Christmas for a kid. The more tradition the greater the Christmas. Sadly we don't have Christmases like that anymore. Christmas Eve was the biggie for some and Christmas Day for others. Have a great Christmas.

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  14. Wonderful memories and such fun. Thanks for sharing.
    The poem is true...
    Merry Christmas and have a good one. Be safe, Margaret xx

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  15. Those are nice memories which made me laugh with the kisses and the nightdress. Oh,to be a child again for a moment...

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  16. Reading your recollections makes me wish you would write a whole book.

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  17. I totally agree with the picture above. Every year I want more things that can't be bought. This year I'd really like to have a stronger health as I sometimes feel myself miserable. I think y co-workers fromhttp://stilusessaywriting.com/ would like to have more clients. Talking about Christmas eve, our table(s) are always full of different meals as well as there are no place, as there are so man people.( We have a really big family).

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