I like Christmas Eve because it gives me time to spend with my cousins. I grew up with my brother and three boy cousins (all brothers) and I love them to death. The age range between all of us is five years, with me being the youngest. As we got older, we didn�t see as much of each other, but still every time we get together for holidays or special occasions, we just laugh and laugh all night long. But Christmas Eve at Grandma�s was and is still the be-all and end all. For starters, we eat in the basement. The room we congregate in is finished, but still � the basement. You have to duck walking down the stairs because the ceiling is so low and slanted. My grandfather used to deliver Wise potato chips, so there is a string of lighted owls hanging above one wall. We sit in various mismatched chairs and eat off of plastic tray tables. Every year we recount the tale about the night our grandparents� neighbor came over and announced, �Hey, I�ll sit here,� and sat down on one of the plastic tray tables and broke it right in two, tumbling over onto the basement floor. We all had tears streaming down our faces from trying to hold in the laughter. A few years later, my cousin Mark was demonstrating it for one of my aunts and ended up doing the same thing to one of her tables. He still hasn�t lived that one down yet. Anyhoo, us �kids� used to squeeze around a card table while we ate until we got too tall and our knees were hitting it when we sat down. Now my cousins have kids so we stick them all there. We�ve finally graduated to the random wagon-wheel chair and the recliner that looks like the one that Frasier�s father sits in. Woo! And year after year, the menu doesn�t change. Someone makes turkey, someone else makes a potato salad, and then we have cold cuts and tuna sandwiches. My grandmother makes Swedish meatballs and ziti with Hunt�s tomato sauce. Then there are the baked beans. My father has actually been banned from eating the beans this year because the past few years he has not responded well to them and spends half of the night clutching his stomach and whining that he wants to go home. Also? My grandmother only has one bathroom. Stay away from the beans. We also have Grandma�s famous fruit punch/sprite hybrid and my mother brings her fantastic array of cookies for dessert. I save a LOT of room for those.

After dinner, we head upstairs to exchange gifts. I remember this being the longest wait in the world when we were younger. We�d bound up the stairs as soon as we were done eating, and just sit by the tree and moan and wail about what in the world could be taking everyone so long. But this was also the best time of the night, because it would be just us kids, hanging out and charged with excitement. I miss that. One year my brother had bought an uncle a keychain that beeped when you clapped, so if you lost your keys you could find them easily. We sat there for twenty minutes simultaneously clapping and laughing until our stomachs hurt. These days we all loll around in the basement, drinking coffee and savoring our dessert. We draw names for gifts, so we have more time to just breathe and enjoy the holiday and being together as a family. My mom and my aunts even clean up and vacuum before we open gifts, which would have been unheard of years ago. But now some of my cousins� kids are getting to the age where they are going to be chomping at the bit to get upstairs and tear into their gifts. Now it�ll be our turn to smile and enjoy their pleas of, �Are you almost done yet? Come OOOOOOOON!!�

My grandmother also has to have a roaring fire going each year, and she always makes sure to light these little candles on her mantle that activate some metal angels that spin around and clink little bells. Christmas Eve just wouldn�t be the same without those angels. I must also mention that my grandmother lights that fire no matter what kind of weather we are having. I live in New England, so our winter weather is almost always brisk and chilly, but one Christmas Eve about ten years ago we had unseasonably warm temperatures. I think it was still in the high 50s that night. Now, the room we sit in is about the size of my bathroom, so the body heat alone warms it right up. Then Grandma had to get that fire roaring. We were sweating like pigs. Someone had to open the front door to keep things cool. We were dying of heat, but laughing our heads off and enjoying every crazy minute of it. That�s one of the best parts of the holidays. Being with people you love, just having the time of your lives.

I think the part I miss the most about being young and going to Grandma�s is the ride home. I would be all tuckered out and snuggled in the backseat of the car, but I would have my face glued to the window, searching the skies for any sign of Santa. I think it helped things greatly that my grandmother lives right by the airport, so there were always all kinds of bright lights in the sky to marvel and wonder about. Is that him?? Wait, what about that one? You couldn�t have wiped that smile off of my face if you tried. So now tonight, I think for old time�s sake I�ll remind myself amidst the hustle and bustle and craziness to glimpse up in the sky, if only for a moment � just to feel the magic all over again. May you never be too old to do that.

Merry Christmas!!

before & after





2007-09-26 - Follow Me!
2006-09-30 - Site Move & Favorite Entries
2006-09-25 - Evil Easter Bunnies & Rock Climbing!
2006-09-22 - Shameful-Purchase Hiding & A New Dentist Plan
2006-09-19 - Birthday Picture/Video Diary & The Wheelmobile





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