Rememberances of Christmas past.

Alright, I admit it, I get a bit melancholy this time of year.  Don't get me wrong, I am no Scrooge; I really do like Christmas. Humm...I really LOVE Christmas. The crèche on the foyer table, the lighted trees across this island, the presents sitting wrapped under my personal little tree, the ornaments collected over years of family fun and travel, the holiday meal of ham, roast beef or turkey, depending on which family member is in charge, the choristers singing the traditional music of the season, the annual Christmas pageant with a new Mary each year beaming in her blue tunic surrounded by angels, shepherds, assorted livestock and wise men: these things make this time of year a special time for friends and family.

But as I look around I begin to think about those Christmases Past a la Ebenezer Scrooge, and begin to wax nostalgic thinking about those no longer here and some remembered, cherished gifts received and given on this holiday.

As a young child, I received a red cowboy hat which I wore for quite a long time until it became rather tatty and worn.  My father told me it had to be washed, and after dousing it in the sink with hot water and wringing it out, much to my horror, this beloved felt creation turned into a limp and dripping red fabric mess, and, over my protestations, it was finally thrown into the garbage heap by my very happy parents. Yet that unpleasant episode has created in me a penchant for interesting head gear, and I have a wonderful collection of hats for all occasions, although I have not recently bought a new cowboy hat; it is not impossible that one may turn up in the collection in the near future. Of course, I will make sure it never is exposed to hot water.

During my teens, I received a faux fur 3/4 length coat that I loved. It was the late 1960's, so it went well with the mini skirts we were wearing at the time.  I vowed that one day I would buy a real fur coat, and I have done so on several fronts.  Over the years I have owned a raccoon jacket,  full length mink and raccoon coats, and a beaver finger length jacket.  I currently have two mink jackets in the closet; one in a chevron section pattern and the other full skinned. Many of my fur purchases were at second hand events where used furs are resold for charity, and I have in turn donated several for the same purpose.  I feel I am giving these coats a new life and renewed purpose.  And, no, I don't feel guilty wearing them.


During my college years, I received a single lens reflex camera since I signed up for a photography course.  Well, the course closed out and I never took it, but the camera got lots of use.  I brought it with me on my honeymoon to England.  My husband asked to look at it one day, just to see how it worked, and his obsession with photography began. For the next 39 years, I was his production assistant, and never got to take another photo with that camera or the others he collected over the years, including lenses and filters. After his death, I gave them to my son-in-law who also is an excellent photographer, and I bought one of those digital point and shot cameras that I now use when I travel.

And of course, the most important Christmas gift, in 1976 I gave birth to my firstborn on Christmas morning.  It is hard for me to believe that she will be 39 this Christmas Day, and that her brother, my youngest, is currently awaiting the birth of his first child.  Time marches on

But besides remembering significant gifts form Christmas past, I also miss the people who are no longer with us to celebrate this most wonderful of holidays. And I oftimes feel a bit melancholy when I think about friends and family members who are no longer here.  But I think one way to honor their memories is to continue to enjoy the traditions they began.  So we'll put a candle in the window on Christmas Eve so Mary and Joseph can find a place to stay as my Mother did all those years ago.  I will make the Jul Glogg that my Father-in-law taught me to make and will remember that his departure from tradition was to use whiskey instead of aquavit...I will use rum. In honor of Aunt Eleanor, I will try to make her carrot and raisin salad. We'll leave a plate of Christmas butter cookies, some carrots and milk for Santa and his reindeer.  And on Christmas Eve we'll gather at our parish church to sing the traditional carols searching for peace on earth in this time of peril and raise our lighted candles welcoming the Christ Child, the Light of the World, into our hearts again.