Thursday, December 07, 2006
Memories of Christmas Past
MomRn is hosting a posting party; memories of our favorite Christmas. I can't say I really have one Christmas that stands out as THE one. Instead, I'll share the parts of Christmases over the past 40 or so years that I treasure.
When I was a little girl, the time leading up to Christmas was the best part. My 5 brothers and sisters and I would make paper chains of red and green, using our school paste. We'd string popcorn and wrap it around our scrawny tree. We'd hang my dad's socks somewhere, in hopes of an orange and some candy on Christmas morning. Christmas morning was a blur - 6 young kids, 2 parents with very little sleep. Packages wrapped in tissue and squiggle ribbon. Pjs and bed-head hair. I remember my father sitting in his chair, watching us all. He'd have his post office uniform on, ready to head out the door to deliver "specials" after we'd finished opening our gifts. I didn't realize other fathers didn't work on Christmas day. I remember nothing of the food. I was a kid - kids don't really care about the food. Seeing one of my siblings exclaim over something they'd dreamed of was such great fun.
When I was a young woman, I remember decorating my first apartment, alone. Putting the tiny artificial tree in the corner, and the sense of loneliness. My parents had recently divorced, I was between dating relationships, and I felt very small. We all need to feel a little lonely now and then. It clears things that might be muddied in our minds. I think those times alone, now and then, remind us we need each other.
When I was a young mother, my only child was 10 months old. We had little money, and she was really too young to appreciate gifts. I expect she would have preferred the boxes and ribbons at her age. We bought her a little rocking chair and a baby doll with a bottle. The bottle had fake milk in it, and would disappear as you tilted it. Upon opening the package, she promptly stuck the bottle in her mouth and was puzzled when nothing happened. I can still clearly see her sitting in that little rocking chair under the tree, doll discarded, bottle in her mouth.
When I was expecting our last child, 8 months pregnant and attempting to maneuver my swollen body through store aisles, I think I lost my love for crazy shopping. My unborn baby and I both got pushed and shoved, as people tried to grab this and that. That year, carrying that baby, I was very struck with how Mary must have felt, in a town that was so crowded there was no room for them. I expect she and unborn Jesus got shoved a bit too.
When our children were all here and a bit older, I remember year after year of not enough sleep; too much to do; long lists for Santa. Making popcorn balls, baking cookies with the kids, Christmas movies on TV, it all lumps together into one precious memory of a busy, busy time in our lives.
Now our children all have their own homes, two of the three have their own little ones. They are at the stage of not enough sleep, too much to do, long lists for Santa and trying to stretch budgets. My list of people to shop for has gotten shorter over the years, and I realize those still on it are to be treasured. Buying a fruit tray and slippers for my 94 year old MIL is a privilege. Wrapping her gifts with care, knowing she will feel loved on Christmas morning as she opens them - someday I will treasure the memories we're making today.
This Christmas we'll make memories that we'll look back at, just a few years down the road. We likely won't remember the gifts, the food won't matter at all. A memory of seeing someone I love dearly, standing next to me holding that little candle and singing Silent Night, that I'll treasure this year, and in those to come.
When I was a little girl, the time leading up to Christmas was the best part. My 5 brothers and sisters and I would make paper chains of red and green, using our school paste. We'd string popcorn and wrap it around our scrawny tree. We'd hang my dad's socks somewhere, in hopes of an orange and some candy on Christmas morning. Christmas morning was a blur - 6 young kids, 2 parents with very little sleep. Packages wrapped in tissue and squiggle ribbon. Pjs and bed-head hair. I remember my father sitting in his chair, watching us all. He'd have his post office uniform on, ready to head out the door to deliver "specials" after we'd finished opening our gifts. I didn't realize other fathers didn't work on Christmas day. I remember nothing of the food. I was a kid - kids don't really care about the food. Seeing one of my siblings exclaim over something they'd dreamed of was such great fun.
When I was a young woman, I remember decorating my first apartment, alone. Putting the tiny artificial tree in the corner, and the sense of loneliness. My parents had recently divorced, I was between dating relationships, and I felt very small. We all need to feel a little lonely now and then. It clears things that might be muddied in our minds. I think those times alone, now and then, remind us we need each other.
When I was a young mother, my only child was 10 months old. We had little money, and she was really too young to appreciate gifts. I expect she would have preferred the boxes and ribbons at her age. We bought her a little rocking chair and a baby doll with a bottle. The bottle had fake milk in it, and would disappear as you tilted it. Upon opening the package, she promptly stuck the bottle in her mouth and was puzzled when nothing happened. I can still clearly see her sitting in that little rocking chair under the tree, doll discarded, bottle in her mouth.
When I was expecting our last child, 8 months pregnant and attempting to maneuver my swollen body through store aisles, I think I lost my love for crazy shopping. My unborn baby and I both got pushed and shoved, as people tried to grab this and that. That year, carrying that baby, I was very struck with how Mary must have felt, in a town that was so crowded there was no room for them. I expect she and unborn Jesus got shoved a bit too.
When our children were all here and a bit older, I remember year after year of not enough sleep; too much to do; long lists for Santa. Making popcorn balls, baking cookies with the kids, Christmas movies on TV, it all lumps together into one precious memory of a busy, busy time in our lives.
Now our children all have their own homes, two of the three have their own little ones. They are at the stage of not enough sleep, too much to do, long lists for Santa and trying to stretch budgets. My list of people to shop for has gotten shorter over the years, and I realize those still on it are to be treasured. Buying a fruit tray and slippers for my 94 year old MIL is a privilege. Wrapping her gifts with care, knowing she will feel loved on Christmas morning as she opens them - someday I will treasure the memories we're making today.
This Christmas we'll make memories that we'll look back at, just a few years down the road. We likely won't remember the gifts, the food won't matter at all. A memory of seeing someone I love dearly, standing next to me holding that little candle and singing Silent Night, that I'll treasure this year, and in those to come.
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