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Quote:

BrokenOne wrote:
Every Christmas Eve my mother’s side of the family would gather at my grandmother’s house to celebrate Christmas. Our traditional meal that night was seafood gumbo that my grandmother would prepare. Those who have tasted Louisiana cuisine will know that it is very flavorful – quite possibly the best food in the country. But not my grandmother’s. And the jokes about the gumbo would start about 2 weeks prior to Christmas Eve. But everybody would still eat the obligatory bowl of gumbo.

One year while we were all giggling over our bowls of gumbo, my uncle got up from the table with his bowl and left the room. He returned moments later with a sheepish grin on his face and an empty bowl, with sounds of a flushing toilet in the background.

10 years later, we are still laughing about this.



Oh Danielle, that is too good! That is hilarious. I know what Louisiana cuisine is like, some of it is out of this world...while at the same time, I've learned to be very cautious in eating gumbo when I don't know what's in it. :-P Thanks for giving me a good laugh!


This is a wonderful thread and I've been enjoying it and mulling over my own memories. There are the usual memories of gifts, and general excitement, but I think the best thing about it is being with family. I hold such precious memories of being together, Dad, Mom, brothers, sisters, grandparents, sometimes cousins, aunts, uncles, and nephews, on Christmas. No amount of gifts or extra stuff can replace the specialness of one's own family.

Another memory I have is Christmas caroling. There's something special about knocking on a complete stranger's door and together bellowing out 'Joy to the World' as people cautiously open their door to see what is going on and then quietly listen. Or going to the nursing homes and singing 'Silent Night' and seeing a quiet, reverential hush fall across everyone as the words flow forth.

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

I also remember acting out the nativity scene as a child with another family. Some of us had to play double parts to make the story complete but it was so much fun doing that with my brothers and sisters and friends. I remember how we improvised our costumes with sheets and whatever we could come up with. Sure, we were a sight, but we had a blast!

Sweet memories.

Thanks, Krispy, for starting this!

 2007/12/11 23:30









 Re:

Quote:
One year while we were all giggling over our bowls of gumbo, my uncle got up from the table with his bowl and left the room. He returned moments later with a sheepish grin on his face and an empty bowl, with sounds of a flushing toilet in the background.



Y'all need a dog... they are quieter than a toilet flush... lol

Krispy

 2007/12/12 7:56
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re:

Quote:
Y'all need a dog... they are quieter than a toilet flush... lol

Ya reckon he would even snif it? LOL

Hey, Krispy, this is a fun thread. I had so much fun reading others' stories....the benefit is that it awaken some of my own.... so here goes.

Christmas was always a fun, wonderful time in the year for as far back as I can remember. It was a time of the year when other serious things were selved for a while and concentrated on doing pleasant, wonderful things. ALWAYS.

As a child I loved to draw pictures of a stable with Mary, Joseph and a manger. I am sure Mom threw these pics away, or maybe I did, but wish I could have just one now.

We always spent time with our extended family. Mom came from a family of five and dad from a family of eight. So this meant there were lots of cousins to play with, lots of food to eat.

My parents did not believe in Christmas trees so we never had one, but I loved it when we were with Dad's family - they always had one and they were so beautiful, especially Aunt Ida's.

Family time: lots of food, laughter, and just plain enjoying each other. Gifts were exchanged which to us children was the high point of the day...I still have a china tea set my cousin Harvey gave - it is still in the box.

One day when I was fifteen I sat back and observed the social interactions of my maternal family: the fun, the noise and decided that IF I ever get married I will want five children and have a lot of noise also! Well, I got married and in time had five children but did not have to wait to long to have a lot of noise! Hey, I loved it and miss some of that noise now!

My maternal grandmother would always peel apples after dinner for whoever wanted one. Can still see her sitting in the living room, attired in a large apron with a large granite bowl on her lap..

And the food: one dish I remember above all others.. and that was tapioca pudding. It was made with large tapioca, whipped cream and candy bars, like Baby Ruth. Fortunately, my aunt Rose told me how to make it. Today my family enjoys it and my nieces and nephews call the tapioca 'fish eyes', an excellent description.

Then there was Christmas caroling. When we were in the youth group, this was an important part of celebrating. Since it was quite large the men improvised in transporting all of us...The men of the church would take a farmer's bob truck, clean it out and put straw/hay bales around the sides for us to sit on. Then it was covered with tarp. A small ladder or stool was used for us girls to get up and down from the bed. Now it was so very cold, but we did not mind. It was fun to go sing for people, give them fruit plates or baskets and spread cheer. I am not sure who benefited the most: we or the recipients. Today the youth use vans and are sorely deprived of the discomforts of chattering teeth, shivering bodies brought on by cold...

We always celebrated Christmas with our children. One memory still irks me a tad bit although it really is funny - now figure that out! We had purchased tennis rackets for our children, wrapped them up and added them to the pile of gifts. Our oldest son, Lynford, had borrowed a friend's metal detector so he took the thing to see if he could figure out what was in those packages...and he succeeded!

Then there was the year our son-in-law Matthew had endured several surgeries for a ganglion tumor on his big toe. This meant a loss of income because of days missed at work...I was so humbled when my family came along and said, why do we not forgo the exchange of gifts and instead give them gifts of money that they can use however needed? It was done and there was one family that really appreciated us! (Perhaps I should inform you that Matthew was married to our DD who died and has remarried. So he really is no biological kin to us: he is the father of two of our grandchildren.)

Have a blessed Christmas!

ginnyrose




_________________
Sandra Miller

 2007/12/12 9:27Profile









 Re:

Enjoying reading everyone's Christmas memories! Let's hear some more!

Krispy

 2007/12/13 8:56
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re:

Krispy, just thought of another one....

Christmas season 1996 .

Our only daughter, who was 25 YO, had died in January 1996. I had accepted the fact God called her home and was glad she was ready to go, and that she really is with the LORD. But as a mom, I still missed her on ocassion, especially now with Christmas approaching and knowing she would not be here and that I would no longer receive ANY gifts from her. I loved her gifts! She knew me so well and her gifts were always just right.

Now Christmas was a few days away and I had to resign myself to her absense...yes, LORD... :-o

On Christmas day my entire family met at my parents house...likely at least 25 persons there. Gifts were exchanged, paper and boxes, ribbon strewn everywhere. I was sitting on the floor observing the fun everyone was having and just enjoyed watching their happiness, thrill and delight when my sister came up to me with a large flat box wrapped in plain white paper. She said, "Sandra, this is for you." I said, "for me?" The box was very unusual, but I accepted it and proceeded to open it.

I was speechless when I opened that box: it was full of 13" quilt blocks embroidered by many ladies for a friendship quilt. They were so beautiful! (Let me describe to you what I am talking about: a friendship quilt is when many different ladies embroider something on a plain piece of cloth. These are then taken and sewn with a sash into a quilt. It is the most beautiful quilt one can ever have: it is totally an original. No two are ever alike. To have one is a real honor.)

Sister Helen told me Regina had started this project for me but when she was striken, she was force to lay this aside. After her demise, her mother-in-law was going through her stuff and found this, so she gave it to Helen and told her to proceed with this project and give it to me. I was totally ignorant of this ongoing project until it was presented to me!

A few days later, I was sitting in the living room, going through this stash of embroidered blocks, filled with awe of the work, time invested in creating such a beautiful piece of handwork...just for me, of all people! Suddenly, I was overwhlmed with a wonderful sense of love -it started at my head and flowed all the way through my body to my feet. I was so loved and knew God did care about me and that he was interested in me and He saw to it that I did get one more gift from our daughter. And it was so perfect!

This incident has erased all doubt, all questions in my mind about God calling her home. This was just another reminder of his love and care for me, the mom.

Have a blessed Christmas, ya'll!

ginnyrose


_________________
Sandra Miller

 2007/12/16 22:32Profile









 Re:

Ginny... I'm not one to cry, but if there was ever a Christmas story that could bring tears to my eyes... that was it. Bless your heart, sister.

Krispy

 2007/12/17 11:19









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Just want to say thanx to the folks on the forum who dont celebrate Christmas for not bringing the debate into this thread... I really appreciate that. :-) I think that has helped folks share some intimate stories, like Ginny's last post.

Thank you.

Krispy

 2007/12/17 11:21
InTheGarden
Member



Joined: 2007/11/3
Posts: 22
Ft. Wayne, IN

 Re: Share your Christmas memories

I have also enjoyed reading some of the Christmas stories, here is a few of the memories that I have from Christmases past:

My Grandfather is German, and some of his traditions have been mixed into our family gatherings - especially at Christmastime. My favorite was that our family would have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. It always consisted of Brautwurst, hot dogs and saurkraut plus other various foods - kind of wierd - but it makes a unique and therefore endearing tradition! On that same night the family would gather around in the living room of my immediate family's home and my Grandfather (or my Dad) would read Luke 2. Although I remember being so impatient to open the presents, it brings back memories of love and joy thinking back on those wonderful times of reading the story of Christ's birth. After the story was over, we kids would tear into our presents and pass out the adult's presents.
The next day, since we had already had Christmas dinner, my immediate family would stay home and play games or do puzzles together.
Having a Christian family, Christmastime wasn't just one of those other holidays, it was a time to really celebrate Christ's birth and enjoy the fellowship with one another. I am thankful for that.

Mikah


_________________
Mikah Litchfield

 2007/12/17 17:23Profile









 Re:

Is it fair to share a memory that belonged to someone else? This is a memory my dad has shared and I thought ya’ll would enjoy it. I guess you could say one of my Christmas memories is hearing Dad share this one. :)


When he was a small boy they would always go to Granny’s for Christmas and she had one of those big old houses with six bedrooms. Late one Christmas Eve my dad heard this, ‘Choo, choo…’ and decided to get up and investigate. He crept quietly down the stairs and peeked around the corner only to discover his dad and uncle playing with his new train set! He watched them for a while and then crept back to bed. Vengeance came next morning at four o’clock, and he blew that train whistle just as loud as he could and probably woke up the entire house with the echoing ‘choo, choo’!

:-)

 2007/12/17 17:43
InTheGarden
Member



Joined: 2007/11/3
Posts: 22
Ft. Wayne, IN

 Re:

That is hilarious, Joy, thanks for sharing it!

Mikah


_________________
Mikah Litchfield

 2007/12/18 14:51Profile





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