Christmas w Barry, Renee and Samantha 2012
This is the third Christmas since Mom passed away. When my grandma (Dad’s mom) passed away, My grandfather said that “Santa Claus had died.” It was a long time before I realized that it wasn’t just because Grandma did all the Christmas shopping. Actually, It wasn’t ’til after Mom passed away that I learned what he truly meant. When you lose someone special in your life, the Holidays just don’t feel the same.
Last year, as Christmas approached, I could have crawled in a hole and never come back out. I decided I wasn’t going to be that way this year. I put my tree up early and decided that I would shop early and try to be done before Christmas Eve. I even had everything wrapped better than a week before Christmas this year so that the tree looked festive but the season still isn’t the same.
One thing I look forward to each Christmas, is getting together with Barry, Renee and Samantha. They live in North Carolina so we don’t get to see them often. Each year they make their Christmas trek up to Pennsylvania to visit friends and family. This year has been a little different in two ways: First, I’ve been able to keep up with Renee and Samantha on Facebook. Barry “I don’t have time for Facebook” doesn’t have an account, so I have to keep up with him through Renee/Samantha’s escapades. Second, Barry and Renee decided to come up a bit early this year. No big deal for us because we love to see them whenever.
As Renee and I messaged back and forth over Facebook, preparing for their visit, I began to realize that things I had been seeing in the family weren’t just me. Everybody’s family has their little quirks and ours is no exception. I know I have certain quirks that probably drive people nuts so don’t think I’m letting myself off this list either.
One of these quirks that seems to stick out more and more as the family ages has to do with working in the kitchen. I love my Aunts and Uncle (Mom’s side) but there are times… (makes strangling motion with hands). I learned long ago that there is one place you do NOT want to be during a family get together… The Kitchen. Apparently, there are certain rules that apply that say things are done certain ways… or maybe there aren’t. Anyway… When my aunts get in the kitchen the best way to help is to not be in the room. Renee and I had kind of an inside chuckle over this as we talked about when they would be visiting. We would definitely let the meal planning to them. That was not a place either of us wanted to be caught in the middle of.
If you want to add real “fun” to the mix, Let Uncle Bob get involved in carving the roast beast. He likes to use an electric knife to cut everything. When all three get in the kitchen, especially Aunt Doris and Uncle Bob’s tiny little kitchen, things become… heated (and I’m not talking about the food). You hear many first names uttered in a somewhat aggravated tone. Kind of like when you scold your pet… “DORRRIS!?” So if you’ve joined us for a family gathering and wonder why most of us are in the living room while they are in the kitchen… We aren’t being mean and not helping. We’re trying to stay out of the line of fire.
Another little quirk that shows up around our table at family gatherings is actually gathering around the table. When “Its on the table.” sounds from the kitchen, you best make your way to the table. It doesn’t matter that it really isn’t on the table yet or that there are 5 other people standing in front of you. Your butt better be in line to sit down. Usually, Dad and I wait until things settle before moving, which results in “Come on… Its on the table” being issued in a louder tone. One would think that once all were seated that would be the end of the chaos. Oh no… The quirk continues to grow. The food that was “On the table” really is still on the stove so one aunt is handing hot items over your head while folks at the table scramble to find a place for said hot item to reside amongst dishes and glasses and table decorations. The other aunt is simultaneously asking what people want to drink. As they age, neither aunt appears to be hearing quite as well so you can use your imagination to picture this endeavor. Usually about the time both aunts get seated, one of them remembers something else that wasn’t put on the table.
That brings us to the third and final quirk of this post… One that many families may experience… Food… plates and plates of food. Its almost never a problem if an extra guest shows up to our family gatherings as we generally have enough food to feed their family as well. I would have to say this was the first year that we actually didn’t have a refrigerator worth of leftovers. Most holiday get together menus consist of: Ham or Turkey, Salad, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Fruit Salad, Bread, Jello Salad and other items. This time we stuck to Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Salad, Devil’d Eggs and baked beens. To get an idea of how much food I am talking about, there is usually at least one extra table and/or TV tray needed to hold the overflow. This year we got by with only one TV tray and I think all it had on it was salad dressing.
As we moved on to our gift exchange, little puns and sideways glances (usually because another quirk just appeared) where also exchanged. The room was segregated into the Kids and The Adults. The Kids ranged in age from 18 to 47 (Sorry if I went a little high on that range). There were extended explanations about how much snow was on the ground/road and where that snow was located. I won’t go into detail about why those were humorous but lets just say the answer took the long way around. It kind of reminded me of a broken GPS… It seemed to recalculate and start over quite often yet still got nowhere near its destination. We had a lot of laughs throughout the evening.
The out of town folks all stayed at a local hotel so we didn’t have to rush through the evening. After everyone had left, Renee and I were chatting on Facebook Messenger about the evening continuing our little inside jokes. It appears that one of the gifts I gave Barry came in handy… A Craftsman bottle opener. I was informed that Barry really liked it. When I asked if he’d found something to test it on Renee told me that “He thought he might need it… so he had come prepared.”
Ahhhhhhhhhh… The fun of spending time with family. HAHA.
(Add as much sarcasm to that last line as is necessary to emulate your time with your family.)
All kidding and quirks aside… The time we spent together Friday night made my bland Christmas Holiday feel like Christmas. I know that Christmas morning will be rough for us as we miss Mom handing out packages like a little kid but I know she’s up there watching over us just like the angel/star on the tree.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you!
~Cappy