Christmas past

The race is on in preparation for Christmas.

As I decorate, wrap gifts and write out Christmas cards, I stop to pause and reflect on Christmas's in the past. For the most part, I would say I've had some really nice Christmas's. Those happy ones are the Christmas's that I drink in and savor like hot apple cider.

The bad ones, and we've all had them, I stuff in the (Burke Breathed) "closet of anxieties" of Christmas's past", and lock the f*&^ing door.

Deaths, illnesses, divorces, family fights, drunken tirades, tantrums and really really bad holiday party incidents. ....shiver.....can all stay locked up, thank you very much.

As I age, the holiday changes and evolve. New traditions emerge and the old ones are put away as happy memories.

It's all good.

I remember like it was yesterday on Christmas eve, my father would take us to kids to see the USS Constitution. We would hang out with him for the day walking around on the ship while my mother was home busy (I assume) wrapping gifts and cooking dinner. We would make a stop in the North End where he would buy cartons of fruit at a discounted rate. I would get grossed out at all the squished fruit on the street. He would stop by the bakery to buy "special' Italian pastries to bring home for dinner. When we got home we were allowed to open one "special" gift from him.

It was special.

Sometimes we would go to early evening Christmas eve mass. We would protest too much if we had to go to Christmas mass on Christmas morning. We were too enthralled with all of our toys to be disturbed by having to go to church. I know that sounds bratty but we were all hyped up little kids.

We also had a tradition of going into Boston to see the tree lightings at the Boston Common. It seemed to be always the coldest night ever but we didn't care. We would drive around the neighborhoods first in my family's "caddy" to see the neighbors decorations and also by Mahoney's Rocky ledge greenery to visit the live reindeers. We would then come home to watch one of the many Christmas specials on TV that seem to always fall on the same night as the tree lightings. Some of the shows were: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, the Grinch who stole Christmas, the little drummer boy and Mr. Magoo's Christmas carol.

My Aunt "Joan" would have Christmas parties at her home with all of my father's relatives. Santa would stop to visit.

I particularly remember my Aunt Joan's Christmas tree. It was one of those "mod" silver aluminium trees with the revolving colored light wheel. I thought it was pretty cool. My mother thought it was awful.

I figured out real fast that this was not the "real" santa who stopped by my Aunt's house because I always got night-clothes as a "gift". The "real" santa would've known I would've hated that polyester-thin-itchy-flammable-night gown with a picture of "quick draw McGraw" on them. I would've prefered a pair of warm flannel pajamas with "Woody woodpecker" on them instead. I would sulk and my mother would poke me telling me to "cut the crap" and that "santa is watching".

Sometimes we would go to my Aunt "Tillies" house too. I didn't care too much about going to her house. It was always crowded and I would always seem to get in trouble for something. She always seemed to have cold beets (yuck) there for dinner too. My older cousin, Susan, however DID have this gigantic troll doll that I could play with.

We also had a big dinner with my Aunt "Marie" and her family. Sometimes my mother would have them over on Christmas eve and sometimes the week before. My mother would get really stressed out because of all her major preparations she felt she needed to do. I liked it because I got to hang out with my cousin "Kim".

Things change as we've all gotten older.

My brother hosts a big family breakfast on Christmas morning.

My Mother still has a Christmas eve dinner.

I have dinner before Christmas at my house with my cousin "Kim".

Parties seem to come and go.

Yeah, it's still all good.