Christmas Traditions When I Was Young--Part 2

We had other Christmas traditions. Each of us children purchased a gift for the brother or sister. Our parents took us shopping to buy a gift for the other parent. Usually we wrapped the gifts during the last week before Christmas. These gifts were placed under the tree in specific piles, one for each person. The gifts that my parents bought for us were never placed under the tree until after we had gone to bed on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve, our neighbors from next door, who were of German heritage, would bring us gifts and a large box of German Christmas cookies. For me, that was the highlight of Christmas Eve, even though we were allowed to open one of our gifts on Christmas Eve.

My grandparents and Uncle Donald came to the house on Christmas Eve and gave us our gifts and we gave them theirs. Then they went to my aunt and uncle’s house on Christmas morning to open gifts with them and my cousins. My grandparents and Uncle Donald always went to Midnight Mass at their church. We usually went to Mass on Christmas morning after opening our gifts (meaning we didn’t get to play with our toys until later). My aunt and uncle and cousins also went to Midnight Mass with my grandparents, as they attended the same church.

When we were young and still believed in Santa Claus, the the same routine had been followed, but when we were older, we did go to Midnight Mass at our church in New Hartford. It was usually a candle-light ceremony, and a High Mass, sung by the choir, and Christmas carols. It seemed to go on forever. It was made worse for me when my mother sang. She could not carry a note in a bucket. Truly, she sounded like some strange creature with a raspy voice that was totally out of tune, not even beginning to follow the melody of the song.

We went to Midnight Mass when I was older, I think, because my parents were hoping that we would be so exhausted that we would not get up early. When we were young, we would all wake up early and try to sneak down the stairs to see what Santa had brought. If it was too early, we would be sent back upstairs and told to wait until a more reasonable hour. It was torture.

We all--aunt, uncles, cousins and our family--would go to my grandparents’ house for dinner on Christmas afternoon. In my family, we would be allowed to bring one of our toys to play with. We usually had turkey and my mother and aunt also brought dishes to be served. The dining room was sent for all 14 of us. We were dressed up and on our best behavior at our grandparents’ house. We had much respect for our grandparents. When our grandparents were older, we alternated having Christmas afternoon dinner between our house and my aunt and uncle’s house.

After spending the afternoon at Christmas dinner, It became our tradition to drive around the city to look at the Christmas lights on peoples’ houses. We also always visited the General Electric (GE) plant in town, where they displays and a life-size nativity scene set up on their factory property. This tradition continued even when we were older.

I will tell you a story that involved a trick that someone (I think my Uncle Don) played on me when I was very young. I was told to go to bed; Pat and Joanne had gone to bed, but I was not cooperating. Suddenly I hear sleigh bells, and looked at the front living room window, where--I swear--I saw Santa Claus. That was enough to make me run up the stairs to my room, so I would be sure that Santa would not pass me by.