This year, I had a bright idea...at least I thought it was a bright idea, lol! Before we said our blessing over the food I announced that I would like for everyone to share a favorite holiday memory after our meal. There were some groans and some naysayers. I explained that "back in the day" I remembered traveling to relatives and my parents would sit around the table, drink coffee and visit. With text messaging, e-mail and all of the other technology out there I felt that we didn't do enough "just sitting around and talking" and I wanted us to all gather around and do some sharing of our own over coffee and dessert. How else would we pass our history on to our children? There was a little more groaning but one of my SIL's spoke up and said, "hey, it's her year to host, she can do what she wants." "That's right," I said, "I can do what I want." As if they hadn't figured that out already! :-)
It took some coaxing but we all gathered around the table after dinner. There were still those who didn't want to participate ("that was okay," I said), a few good natured complainers, and even some who said they couldn't remember anything (an apparent DiStefano malady, it's contagious too!) We started our little round of stories with Grandma who told of her and Sam's first Christmas. They had little money, but Sam was determined to have a Christmas tree. He went out, cut one down, brought it home and nailed a stand to it. As they had no money for ornaments they folded candy wrappers and made their own decorations and placed them on the tree. Grandma said it was very pretty and I am sure that it was! What a wonderful beginning!
Next, came one of the naysayers...David, my niece, Stephanie's husband. David told a hilarious story of one of their first Christmases after their son DJ was born. They had decided not to have a tree and decorations due to financial circumstances. One night while Stephanie left to run errands David decided he wasn't having Christmas without a tree and decorations! Because Steph is allergic, he couldn't just run out and buy a real one. He went to a local hardware store in the small Texas town they live and found an artificial tree still in the box but it was marked "BAD". He asked the salesman, "what's bad about this tree?" The salesman answered, "I don't know, it's bad." "Well, I can see that, it's written on the box...but what's bad about it?" David asked. "Uh, I don't know, it's just....uh, bad," the salesman answered again. Frustrated but determined, David asked to speak with a manager. The same question was asked of the manager and the same response was given, "I don't know, it's just bad." Now this story might not seem funny in the retelling but just imagine a 6 foot tall cowboy with a thick Texas twang telling it...well, trust me it was funny! The store manager ended up just giving the tree to David and it turns out that the "bad" was one branch missing. David then put lights on the house and was in the process of blowing up one of those huge yard Santas when Stephanie turned down their street. She drove right past their house...didn't even recognize it with all of the decorations! One of the sweetest stories I've ever heard!
My niece Lauren was ready with her story. Her story was one from her childhood and involved a certain Santa mishap. Her mom (my SIL Celeste) was an evening shift x-ray technician at a local hospital when she and her brothers were young. Mom had to leave to be at work by 11:30 on Christmas eve. Excited to see what Santa had left for them, she and her brother, Brian rose early on Christmas morn and ran down stairs to take a peek. To their surprise, there was nothing! They ran back upstairs to tell their older brother Matt who was still asleep. He assured them that they were just up too early. They should go back to bed and not worry he told them...Santa would come, he was just running late. Now you can imagine what they were thinking...had they really been that bad? Lauren said they were so sad and were sitting at the top of the stairs with their chins in their hands when the door opened and their mom came in. "Mom!" they cried, "Santa didn't come!" Celeste did a quick look and said in an angry voice, "Where's your dad?!?" Too funny!
Celeste went next with a very touching story. She and her husband, Russell, were high school sweethearts. One Christmas when they were dating she happened to be at his house when his dad was putting Christmas lights on their house. She commented on how beautiful they were and how she wished that they had lights on their house. Mr. Evans asked, "Y'all don't have lights on your house?" and she said, "Oh, no, sir...we could never have anything like that." Mr. Evans boxed up their lights and took them over to her house and told her, "well now you have lights." This story brought tears to some of our eyes. Of course, August began counting the crybabies!
One of my favorite holiday memories involves a similar theme. David had been one of the many casualties of Armco Steel closing. It was Cameron's first Christmas and he was still without a job. Jobs were very hard to come by. I had just gone to work and just two days before Christmas received my first pay check. I remember very vividly going to K-Mart by our house and buying Cameron's Santa toys. The toy department was so picked over and I remember buying her a yellow dump truck, a big headed baby, a top, and a few other small things. But we were so proud that we were able to buy these things! David and I use to say that our song was the old Anne Murray tune whose lyrics are, "even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey..." and we were...in love, not only with one another but also with the little family we had created. Good times!
It just goes to show you that some of the best memories come from some of the "not so best" times. It is the challenges and experiences we face in life that shape who we become. There were many other stories shared and I hope it is a tradition we will continue.
Picture time is always last. Why we save our photo ops until the end when we have all fattened up on so much good food is beyond me. In any event, here's our group. A few were missing this year. Hopefully we will all be there next year. I know for sure of three new little ones joining the crowd...two baby boys and a baby girl!
And I'm only sharing this one because we had a bit of a laugh. Notice the hold Grandma has on Lexi sitting next to her. She was hanging on a little tight to a few of the little ones only because some had gotten cranky and were trying to make a hasty getaway. Well, my boys were behind me saying, "look at the choke hold Grandma has on Lexi! Tap out, Lexi! Tap out!" I swear those boys crack me up!
I'll try to share Wille Christmas before the next new year!
Cheers!
Wow, and I thought Les' family was big. No wonder you rented the church. Was that Bernice? She looks great.
ReplyDeleteNice picture. Looks like a great time and growing family. I'm trying to pick out the ones I know...
Is Lisa in this picture?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Robin and Larry?