Tags
Ashton Keynes, Birth of the savior, Candlelight service, Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas Eve, Cookies and milk(and carrots), Early memories, Family service, Grandma and Grandpa, New year ahead, oops, San the Sham, Santa Claus, The Book, Traditions with my mom, Wooly Bully, Wrap a polooza!
It is December 24th. Christmas eve. It amazes me to think that in eight days we will be in not only a new year, but a new decade. Loads of changes in the new year ahead. This is not a post about the new year, it is about Christmas eve. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our savior as well as wait impatiently for the Jolly man in the Red Suit to visit our home and leave a plethora of gifts, I think back on past Christmas eves.
One very early memory I have was Santa coming and visiting my younger brother and I. I don’t believe our baby brother had been born yet so it was just the two of us. I remember he brought us marker sets. My little brother was under the weather and threw up on Santa. I don’t remember who was playing the part of Santa, but I am sure it was not exactly what they were expecting. I also don’t know if that was on Christmas eve or not but it is an early Christmas memory.
Christmas eves growing up were often spent with my dad’s parents. They would always come out to our house and my mom would prepare a big meal. I remember getting to open a gift on Christmas eve while they were there, but I don’t know if it was the gifts from them or if it was just any gift. There was one year we also stayed at their house on Christmas eve and had Christmas morning at their house. I remember getting these LARGE toy trains that when you turned them on they made a lot of noise and would roll forward until they hit something, then they would go in another direction. We had those trains for YEARS. I have many memories of those Christmas eves and look back on them with fondness.
When I was a little older, I remember going to candle light services with my mom. These are late Christmas eve services (Usually 9pm and 11pm) that end with singing ‘Silent Night’ while holding a candle. It was a nice thing that I got to do with my mom, I can’t recall any other family members ever showing any interest in going, but I wanted to. I guess I had a stronger faith than I knew. On top of that, it was something I had with my mom.
One of my most memorable Christmas eves ever happened in ’96. I know this because it was right at the beginning of the time I lived overseas in England. My parents lived in a tiny little village called Ashton Keynes. There was a small little church on the edge of town and the whole family was there. Mom, Dad and the three boys. As we sat in the church, listening to the Christmas message, the PA system was picking up faint radio signal and under the pastor/priest was wooly bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Neither I nor my brothers could keep it together and we were all trying to keep our giggling from disrupting the other parishioners. It was truly one for the ages.
Now that I have a family of my own, we have started some Christmas eve traditions of our own. One that I am not overly thrilled with is it seems no matter what I am always finishing up some form of shopping on the 24th. I have to get better at finishing and then BEING DONE. Our church does a lovely family service every year on Christmas eve. We have made it a regular part of our December 24th routine. Some very good friends of the family who are not really affiliated with any church have gone to the family service the past two years which brings a great deal of joy to my heart.
Before going to bed, Newmom and the little guy always put out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. This year is no different, with eight (one for each reindeer as the little guy explained) baby carrots and a few chocolate chip cookies (Mrs. Claus told him chocolate chip are Santa’s favorite) for the big guy on his trip.
Then there is the book. The year before my dad passed away, he and my mom purchased a recordable book. They are the one where you read the story and it records your voice, then plays it as you turn each page. We have the Charlie Brown Christmas book and my mom and dad alternate reading pages. It ONLY comes out one day a year, and after we are done with it, we take the batteries out and store it until next year. In the opening page, my dad wishes Xavier a Merry Christmas and says even though they are not with us, they are thinking about him every time he hears it. I have cried every time we play it. God I miss him. I wish he could see our family. People tell me he can, he is watching over us, and I know he is home with his parents, past loved ones and God. And I believe that one day I will see his again when it is my turn to come home.
After the little guy goes to bed, it is wrap-a-polooza. Newmom and I are feverishly getting everything ready for Santa’s visit and for preparation of being waken too early to the exclamations that Santa has come to our home! And I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world.