Christmas & The Day After as a Child

And so here we’d be, on the day following Christmas, when as a young girl, I’d have just spent the previous day sitting in the family minivan in my unofficial official seat right behind the driver (which 99% of the time was Dad) being driven around to whichever family member or family friend was next on our list; we’d canvas the larger neighborhood & spend time with at least a half dozen family & family friends over the course of our Christmas afternoon, evening, & night.

Mom explained years after we’d stopped traveling out-of-state for Christmas Day that we’d always spent that day traveling from house to house because it was Grandma’s wish that we’d not remain at her house for the day, nor to have anyone stop by her house to visit on Christmas Day.

Once my brother & I had begun taking lessons we needed these. Mom & Dad had us bring them with us when we visited Grandma for Christmas. That’s how it began. Family & friends heard that we had them with us (Mom & Dad would have us bring them in the car, not leave them at Grandma’s house for the day), & they’d have us go get them so they could listen too. They were really kind & inviting; we really never did sound reasonable, let alone good.

At the end of the day, once we were all fully exhausted & basically falling asleep, we’d retreat back to Grandma’s house so that we could wake up, eat a quick breakfast of eggs, toast, & whatever else might be leftover, before heading back across the state border by around lunchtime at the latest.

This way we’d be back to our house long before dinnertime & be able to enjoy our household gifts at that time. If we were full of energy & the weather was kind, we’d head over to Dad’s mom’s house, maybe even for dinner, if not just for the evening & to exchange gifts with her too. Dad’s sister, who was living downstairs, would stop by with the few boxes she had for us as well. Otherwise, we’d wait & see Dad’s mom on December 27. During this visit is when this would’ve been.

It turned into a lot of traveling & a lot of seeing lots of people, & spending lots of time with everyone. At one family friend’s house a quick “deli buffet” would be set up on their dining table for us to stop & assemble a sandwich of our choosing. They had a few grown daughters who gathered with us & we’d team up to play this. I never cared to play this, especially not solo, as I had to be “hyper-aware” & super paying attention at all times; never letting my guard down. I didn’t care for this on any holiday, particularly not when celebrating Christmas, so I was grateful that these family friends joined & supported us; it served as a great “emotional hug”.

I most remember Christmas, & the following days, as a lot of moving about & being told, “Go here.” “Be there.” “It’s time to get going.” It was, oftentimes, hard to be “in the moment”, & seemed to be a lot of just sitting around waiting. Those were the years for that; that was the age of “the waiting game” & making the most of the conversations & experiences which played out before us. 

On the upside, during one of our “waiting around” visits, at the house where Mom’s best friend grew up, I remember admiring her sister’s handiwork. I’ve never really minded anyone watching me do this; maybe it’s in part due to the generosity this family friend showed me during that Christmastime visit.

Family friends joining in while playing this & making the most of “waiting around time” working up some of this. Lessons in kindness of Christ-like spirit of heart at Christmastime for a lifetime.

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