Ok, I'm going to take the time to do this, even though I shouldn't; but it's so neat! Thank you, Dub-dub.
We would always go down to Tennessee and stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Ben's 5 years older than I am, but he, too, is an only child, so we were company for each other. My mother would take all kinds of food--they lived on a farm and never had much extra cash. She'd make fudge--each rectangle had a pecan half carefully placed on top; bourbon balls, and jam cake. (She remembers the time she discovered, when she went to serve them to the company that had arrived, that Ben and I had snuck and eaten approx. 2 pounds of bourbon balls. I don't. She said we didn't get sick, though.)
If Ben and Uncle Bennett hadn't already gone out and cut down a cedar, my father would go and help them, and we'd decorate it. I remember thinking cedar trees were a bit too sparse to look really good, but it sure smelled heavenly!
Our stockings were hung on the mantel in the front room, because that room was heated by a stove, not the fireplace. That same stocking is hanging on my mantel right now, having been filled for at least 47 Christmases that I know of.
We'd drive into downtown Nashville and look at the store window decorations. One memorable Christmas Eve, everyone in the car except me saw Santa Claus flying along; whenever I'd crane my neck, saying eagerly, "Where, where??", he would have just gone behind a skyscraper, darn it. I think I was all of 14 before I got over regretting missing him.
Ben and I would be bouncy with excitement, and not want to go to bed, of course. I can remember feeling like I was going to just burst out of my skin, I was so eager! (Eep--in some ways, I haven't changed much!)
Christmas dinner was always turkey--my father insisted that it be a hen turkey, and fresh, not frozen--and dressing, cranberry sauce (that, too, was fresh), and various side dishes. The ladies would work on its preparation all day.
The other four uncles and their wives and children would come. The 12 adults squeezed around the dining table, and we kids got a table to ourselves in the kitchen. Much fun, talking, and enjoyment!
Nowadays, I love all kinds of things about Christmas; and I have to say that my innate laziness makes it pretty easy for me not to worry if things are not "just so". I love the old familiar carols, and the Messiah; the sound of sleigh bells; candy canes; all the lovely lights; and there is certainly not much that can beat the looks on the faces of children who still believe, on Christmas morn when they find that Santa has indeed come. Both my kids were November babies, so I made sure they each got baptized on Christmas Sunday.
Mostly, though, you know, I just love the SPIRIT that pervades just about everywhere! People seem happier, quicker to forgive--yet also quicker not to offend (for ex. in a long line at the checkout counter), and are certainly more generous.
