Christmas

Christmas.  How we have always loved Christmas.  For our family it means a time of gathering.  We don't always get everyone in the same place at the same time anymore but those who cannot be with us are always in our hearts.

Our first Christmas as a family was in Victoria in 1973.  Dad, Jason and I made the most of it even though Dad was at university and we didn't have much.  We loaded the VW up with the things we had and headed to Nanny's and Papa's in Cumberland.  

This would be a family tradition for many, many years.  In those days Nanny and Papa waited for Dad and I to 'come home' to decorate the Christmas tree, even if it meant we didn't arrive until December 23rd.  The tree was waiting there to greet us.  In those days Papa went into the woods and cut a tree.  It would be set up in a large metal tub and held in place with big rocks.  Papa had already put the red nose on the deer head in the hallway and renamed it Rudolph.  Every year that deer wore a red nose at Christmas.

The house was packed to the rafters with people and presents and baking and Christmas morning was a chaotic free-for-all.  Presents and paper and boxes flying helter skelter as the kids ripped open their presents.  In those early days it was just Shane and Tracey, then Jason and Christine and not long after Sarah, Scott, Travis, Raymond and Carrie and Kelly rounded out the Watson clan.  For many of those years everyone was up early and ready to go.  Everyone except Uncle David, that is.  There was always a lot of encouragement from as many kids as were willing to go jump on Uncle David and remind him it was Christmas morning.  

 

A mandarin orange and a piece of chocolate usually made up breakfast until after presents were open (and lost and broken in short order).  Nanny headed to that small little kitchen and almost single-handedly prepared a feast for the whole crew.  We gathered around the big table and kids got to sit at the card table at the end.  It was always a momentous occasion to move up to the adults table!  It seems impossible, now that we have that table in our home, that everyone fit.  In those days, that table seemed to be 20 feet long.

The Christmas tradition in Cumberland always involved the drive there, either from Victoria or from Agassiz.  You kids often played those bingo cards on the way and there was always an argument when we got to the Long Lake fire station as you all had it on your card and it was the only fire station on the way.  I am not sure why we didn't give you all a FREE space on that one, it would have avoided many arguments :). And then the wait was on.  How much longer to the bumps on Royston Road.  Dad would always try to trick you and say that we had already gone over them so you would all be surprised when you bounced out of your seats.  Ahhhhh. . .

Christmas in Cumberland, in those days, also meant snow.  We would head off to that giant hill at the park with toboggans and kids in tow.  You would all have spent all day there if you had been allowed.  Up and down that mountain over and over and over.  Boxing Day we often headed off on a hike up to Allen's Lake for a skate (well, for those of us who had skates).  Those who didn't patiently waited on a tree stump for their turn.  It's a little sad that the snow from the old days isn't a thing anymore.

At some point, we decided it was time to stay 'home' in Agassiz for Christmas.  While we missed the traditions of Nanny's and Papa's it was a full house in Agassiz with the four of you and Dad and I.  We were just remembering all of those Christmases where you opened your stockings on the end of our bed, a tradition that went on just a tad too long.  Christmas Day is always a turkey dinner with the fixings.  I alway put the turkey in early so we could have our meal in early afternoon.  Turkey sandwiches and turkey buns were alway a treat later that evening.  Egg nog, lots of baking, card games and movies are still a part of Christmas, all these years later.

When you kids moved on to university and marriage and families of your own, we had to learn to share you.  You all decided that you would go to your other families one year and come home to ours the next year so Dad came up with a plan.  And what a great plan it turned out to be.  He booked four days at Manning Park before Christmas so we could spend some time together before you headed off in different directions.  Those Manning Park years were some of the best!  Having snow outside the door for skiing, tobogganing, snowman building, snowball fights, skating and snow shoeing kept everyone happy.  The accommodations were tight but we kind of liked it that way.

Each year as we decorate our tree so many memories come flooding back.  Our tree decorations almost all have a special meaning; the medal Nanny won for piano, the crocheted stockings from Mrs Hukaluk (our neighbour on Agassiz Avenue), the walnut mouse from elementary school, the paper star, the one or two decorations left over from our original set, the ones made by you guys when you were little and now our grandchildren and that damn plastic angel with the melted face.  It is fun watching Dad's face as he sets up his village with the snow ball throwers, the musicians and even the one or two townspeople who have since lost their heads.  The house decorations have found new spots in our Comox home, but many of them have graced table tops from Gold River to Victoria to Comox to Agassiz to Chilliwack back to Agassiz (and don't forget Cultus Lake) and finally home again to Comox.

As we gather for Christmas this year, as we do every year, we will remember those who we have lost; Nanny and Papa, Gramma and Grampa, Uncle David, Uncle Brian, Aunty Kay and the memories of each of those family members will bring a smile and a tear to our faces.

We won't all be together at the same time this year but we can still share the memories of days gone by and continue on with the ones that we hold in our hearts.  Christmas will always be a special time for our family and I know that each of you have now begun your own traditions with your own families and that you too will look back on this time of gathering, celebrating, remembering and tradition. Dad and I wish you all A Holly, Jolly Christmas for it certainly is The Best Time of the Year.