"And
Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,
Let
me now go to the field,
and
glean ears of corn after him
In
whose sight I shall find grace.
And
she said unto her, Go, my daughter."
Ruth
2:2 KJV
Memories of Christmas past have been filling my
head for the last couple of weeks . . . more specifically of Christmas Eves spent
with the Jena family.
Jena family tradition had us gathering at 1055 Riverside
Drive in South Bend . . . this address will be well known to my family, for the
rest of you this was Grandma and Grandpa Jena's house, aka my dad's parents. Those attending would be
Uncle George & Aunt Caroline, Brenda, David, Scott and Bruce; Uncle
Max & Aunt Sue, Michelle, Vicky, Penny and Debbie; my dad & mom,
my brothers Tom & Doug and I. It would be a treat if Aunt Nancy & Uncle Bob, Karen
Sue and 'Little' Max were able to join us. My dad's younger sister, Aunt Carol & Revered Uncle John, Tammy and Tim didn't come
since Uncle John had to be at his Church
for services, since he was the Pastor.
When we arrived we'd carry in the gifts and put them under the huge tree, which was in the sunroom. There would always be piles and piles of gifts, but then again there were a lot of us gathered - at least eight adults and eleven grandchildren! My favorite ornaments on the tree were the old German candle holders with the candles, I don't remember ever seeing them lit, but I was fascinated with those candles! I don't know the history of those candleholders and candles, but expect they had been passed down through the family. And I remember the lights - the bulbs were huge and the color scratched off in places giving them some character and making them seem to shine ever so brightly!
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| 1055 Riverside Drive |
When we arrived we'd carry in the gifts and put them under the huge tree, which was in the sunroom. There would always be piles and piles of gifts, but then again there were a lot of us gathered - at least eight adults and eleven grandchildren! My favorite ornaments on the tree were the old German candle holders with the candles, I don't remember ever seeing them lit, but I was fascinated with those candles! I don't know the history of those candleholders and candles, but expect they had been passed down through the family. And I remember the lights - the bulbs were huge and the color scratched off in places giving them some character and making them seem to shine ever so brightly!
Dinner was always delicious, seems that sauerbraten and spaetzle were on the menu. Dessert was some sort of frozen 'pink stuff,' can't tell you exactly what it was as I didn't like it, so I didn't eat it . . . but everyone had a serving of it - mine got passed around the children's table and my cousins enjoyed sharing it. After dinner the tables were cleared and for many years Grandma and the moms would put the leftovers away, wash, dry and put away the dishes and then join the rest of us in the living room. When us granddaughters got older we got to help in the kitchen!
Now, these weren't just any dishes that we ate off of during family meals, I found out when I was in high school or college that my Grandma painted all the china! Which maybe explains why there were so many place settings, seems never ending. When we were all together there would be twelve adults and fifteen grandchildren . . . that's a lot of dishes, cups & saucers, glasses and silverware not to mention serving pieces to go with!
When we were all in the living room we would sing several Christmas carols - including 'Silent Night' and 'O Christmas Tree' in German! Grandma and Grandpa both spoke fluent German. Grandpa would read the Christmas Story from Luke 2:1-21, King James version, of course! As the grandchildren turned 13 years old, Grandpa turned this reading over to us! When your turn came, Grandpa would pull you aside when you arrived, hand you his Bible and show you what he wanted you to read, so you had time to read it over a few times and ask how to pronounce some of the words. After the Bible reading there may be another song or two and then . . . it was time for the gifts!
I also remember back when we were really young, at some point, all of us grandchildren were taken into the room off the living room, behind the fireplace, as we had to 'hide' so that Santa could make his special delivery! This meant that our dads had to quietly run upstairs - to the third floor, to grab all the 'Santa' gifts, bringing them down stairs, saying 'Ho-ho-ho,' and place them around the tree! The third floor was a safe place for these 'Santa' gifts as it was off limits 99.9% of the time! I remember this as the most exciting part of the evening!
OK on with it - for many years Grandpa would get up out of his chair and walk over to the tree, which was in the 'sunroom' just off the livingrom, and one by one would pick up a package call out who it was 'To and From' and the dads would deliver the gifts. At some point the dads took this over and if memory serves me right some of us grandkids got to do this in later years. NO gifts were unwrapped until ALL the gifts had been passed out and Grandma or Grandpa said it was time! Grandpa then went around and handed out our $25 savings bonds and Grandma would call all the granddaughters to come and get their little box with their Christmas 'Add-a-Pearls.' Funny as we all knew that once we looked at our savings bond we were to give it to dad, and once us girls opened our pearls and saw them that box went to straight to mom! Grandma and Grandpa sat in their chairs and delighted in watching us open our gifts, and it was only after we had all opened our gifts that they would open theirs.
We always gave Grandpa a dozen raisin cookies and his 'hard tack' (made from an old family recipe from Germany - his Grandmothers maybe, I don't remember how far back that goes) wrapped up in foil with curling ribbon on it and a picture of a telephone wrapped up in a little box - this was to remind Grandpa that my dad & mom were paying for the extra phone extention in his office at the photo studio. And for Grandma a nightgown and other assorted items.
Along with all the other gifts, each family took home a foil wrapped stollen and other baked goodies.
After this, it was time to clean up all the wrapping paper and put it in trash bags, gather all the gifts and carry them out to the cars and all head over to . . .
Zion United Church of Christ for Christmas Eve candlelight service. Lots of poinsettias and candles filled the sanctuary. There was lots of singing, scripture readings, a message and then lighting all of our candles, what an amazing site that was . . . all that candlelight as we all stood in a circle around the sanctuary with the choir in the middle isle!
After Church it was tie to head home and jump into bed and right to sleep . . . so Santa would come!
Memories of Christmas Eves from my childhood . . . feeling blessed!
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| Family Christmas Card with my brothers Tom - Doug - Luanne |
This Christmas Eve I am remembering how things
were back then and missing . . . Grandma & Grandpa Jena, Aunt Nancy, Uncle George,
Aunt Sue, Karen Sue, my mom, dad and younger brother Doug.
