On the fifth day of Christmas...

Some Christmas Remembrances

The book from my childhood.  It's falling apart, but will never be replaced.

  We spent Christmas Eve all together watching "It's a Wonderful Life".  The ending brings me to tears every time.  Then it was pajamas and time to read "The Night Before Christmas."  I have a collection of "The Night Before Christmas" books, but, on Christmas Eve, we must read from the one my father read to my brothers and I from.  No matter how many other beautiful illustrated versions I have, this is the one for me.  Up until last year, if my father was over, it was his job to read the story aloud to us all. Sadly,  Dad's dementia has advanced to the point that reading aloud to us is no longer possible. So the kids piled into bed with their father and I and we read the book aloud.  Boy we used to fit in that bed with a lot more room to spare a few years ago!  But I'll take that kind of crowding any day.  Then off to bed so Santa could visit!

 Christmas morning!  Our savior is born! 

The nativity set of my childhood.  One of the wise men is missing.  We will find him one day in one of our many Christmas boxes.  For now, we pretend he has temporarily stepped back from the scene, perhaps to ponder with amazement where the star has lead him. 

With two teenagers and one just turned 20, gone are the days of my husband and I being woken up at dawn. Our youngest, 13, was still the first one up, though it was an hour or two after sunrise.  His older sisters had to be gently nudged awake.
On Christmas morning, first come the stockings.  There are always two things we can count on Santa leaving in each stocking. The first is a fresh, juicy clementine in the toe of the stocking.  Santa does this to remind us of how blessed we are.  Omi, the children's great-grandmother, and my grandmother, grew up in a small, simple  house on a farm in Germany with 10 or 11 siblings. As you can image, money was scare.  On Christmas, each child received an orange as their sole gift.  It was a special treat and something they treasured.
 The second thing Santa always leaves in each of our stockings is a little piece of Christmas wrapping paper.  This is Santa's hint as to which presents under the tree belong to each of us.  What a smartie that Santa is!

 Next comes the hunt for the pickle!  Somewhere on the tree is hidden a blown glass pickle ornament. The child to find the pickle first gets to open the first present.  But do you know what?  Santa forgot to hide the pickle this year!  So Daddy came to the rescue and, as the children hid their eyes,  he hid one of his favorite ornaments instead.  Eva was the lucky seeker this year.  More tomorrow...I have kept those dirty dishes waiting long enough.