Unusual Holidays

Well, to paraphrase a line from the poem “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” A couple of unforeseen difficulties arose, the worst of which was an early winter storm that resulted in a glaze of ice on the roads. The other problem had to do with logistics. How in the world were my husband and I going to be able to pack up the children, drive across town for appetizers, arrive back home at the same time everyone else was showing up, and be ready to serve the main course in a relatively short period of time? 

Well, as the old proverb says, “All’s well that ends well.”  

Dinner took a little time to get on the table, and not everything was orchestrated perfectly, but since we’d all had something to eat at our first stop, no one really seemed to mind waiting on dinner. Then, after dinner, we all headed over to David’s brother’s house for dessert. 

It was a long evening, especially for the children. Although we enjoyed the novelty of the progressive dinner, the next year we returned to our familiar and traditional way of celebrating Thanksgiving. 

Angela - St. Joseph, Missouri 

Christmas was Untraditional Without Visit From Santa 

I was only 7 years old in 1933, but I knew times were hard. Momma told me not to expect a visit from Santa Claus that year because, like us, he didn’t have any money either. Even without a visit from Santa, I was excited for Christmas. We were going to have Christmas dinner at Great Grandma’s house – a rustic Texas farmhouse built in the 1870s – and it was always fun to go to her house. 

On that cold, gray December day, Great Grandma held the door wide open while we piled out of our black Model A Ford after a long ride from town. She kissed us a cheery hello, leaning down to hug me in her long, dark skirt and long-sleeved shirtwaist, with her high, black leather, buttoned shoes peeking out from underneath her skirt. Her blue eyes smiled brightly from beneath a crown of long, black hair piled up high in a knot on top of her head and anchored with thick, gold hairpins. 

Inside the house, the fireplace crackled with cedar logs as aunts, uncles and cousins arrived. Finally, we gathered in the big kitchen and sat around a long table that extended the full width of the room.