A Year of Blogging: December 24, 2011

December 24 is Christmas Eve. For me, Christmas Eve has always seemed like the most magical and traditional of days. It is possibly one of my favorite days of the year. We never had school on Christmas Eve. Sometimes Mom still had to work at the bank, but Dad always had the day off. If Mom was working, we made a final cleaning pass through the house to make sure it was clean for company (Mom's house was always spotless, but we still had to clean). We'd finish preparing any baked good for Christmas. This usually included making the birthday cake for Jesus. My mother insisted on making a cake every year. Even though we had a smorgasbord of desserts, we still made a cake. We also sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. It's a tradition I would continue if I had children, or if I were going to have a lot of people here for the meal. But I don't, because truthfully, Erich and I don't need a whole cake to eat. My sister has continued the tradition with Sydney and Drew. I know there are some parents who don't tell their children about Santa, because they do not want to cloud the real reason for Christmas. I'm not going to tell any parent they are wrong. It is an individual decision. But I can tell you that we believed in Santa, yet we also knew why we celebrated Christmas. My parents did a wonderful job providing balance for us. We went to church every Sunday. We knew the Christmas story by heart. We helped others throughout the year, especially at Christmas. We weren't rich. My parents believed that we needed to share our blessings, so we helped others. Even something that seems small to you, might make a world of difference to someone struggling. We celebrated Jesus' birthday. And there were no presents until after Mass on Christmas Eve. We ate dinner before Mass because Mass was usually at 7, if my memory is correct. Our church was a rural church, and you didn't really dress up for Mass. But we did on Christmas Eve. One year, when we were teenagers, we even wore the fur stoles that belonged to my Grandmother and Aunt. A normal mass was short and sweet. We didn't have singing. The Priest was very brief. We could be out within half an hour. Which is very short for a Catholic Mass. Christmas Eve Mass was a different story though. We sang all kinds of carols and hymns. The lights were dimmed in the church. The nativity set sparkled. As a child, I always felt Christmas Eve Mass was magical. Thinking about it still takes my breath away. At our church, the manger stayed empty until Christmas Eve Mass. Each year, a child was chosen to carry Jesus down the aisle and place him in the manger during the Christmas Eve Mass. I still remember my turn. I was so proud, and terrified. We had a large nativity set, so baby Jesus filled both hands. The aisle seemed never ending. Faces stared at me from every angle. It was my turn to deliver Jesus to the front of the church. There was no more important job in the world that night. After Mass, we went home. We lived behind the church, so unless the weather was really bad, we walked. When we got home, we were each able to have one present. My sister had spent weeks carefully scrutinizing every present with her name on it, trying to find the perfect gift to open on Christmas Eve. I usually just chose one, I knew they'd all be open the next day anyway. We left our tree on all night Christmas Eve. We left the outside lights on too. That way, Santa could find his way to our house. We left cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Santa asked for Oreos at our house. How very funny that Oreos were Dad's favorite cookie too! I don't remember sneaking back downstairs after we went to bed. I liked sleep, even then. My sister was usually the first one up on Christmas morning. My parents said we couldn't open presents until everyone was awake, so once Laura was up, she came in to wake me. She did everything- jumped on me, pulled open my eyelids, dragged my blankets off the bed. Eventually I gave in, and we rushed downstairs. Whether you are enjoying old traditions or creating new ones, I wish you and yours a blessed and Merry Christmas!