Tonight at dinner my sister-in-law Candace asked us to share some of our favorite Christmas memories. She also recorded us - and I am curious to see what happens with those recordings!
Anyway, we all shared a couple stories. It got me thinking of how all the little bits and pieces of our memories turn into traditions we try to hold on to throughout our lives. Sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing from what I think I remember from what I remember by looking at old pictures. I wish I could remember more. I couldn't think of one particular Christmas that stood out. But Tom brought up what was my favorite part about Christmas - the times we would gather at Grandma Gerhardt's house in Bismarck and the times we went up the Grand Forks to Grandpa and Grandma Ebert's house. Neither had a large house, but that was part of the beauty of it - all of us gathered under one roof to eat together, share stories, open gifts, play games...
Some of the traditions I loved were helping Grandma Gerhardt decorate her tree and set up her nativity scene, picking out a real tree each year with my parents and decorating while listening to Christmas music, wrapping presents, driving around to look at Christmas lights around town, and going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve...just to name a few.
Anyway, we all shared a couple stories. It got me thinking of how all the little bits and pieces of our memories turn into traditions we try to hold on to throughout our lives. Sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing from what I think I remember from what I remember by looking at old pictures. I wish I could remember more. I couldn't think of one particular Christmas that stood out. But Tom brought up what was my favorite part about Christmas - the times we would gather at Grandma Gerhardt's house in Bismarck and the times we went up the Grand Forks to Grandpa and Grandma Ebert's house. Neither had a large house, but that was part of the beauty of it - all of us gathered under one roof to eat together, share stories, open gifts, play games...
Some of the traditions I loved were helping Grandma Gerhardt decorate her tree and set up her nativity scene, picking out a real tree each year with my parents and decorating while listening to Christmas music, wrapping presents, driving around to look at Christmas lights around town, and going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve...just to name a few.
When we drove out to our lot last week, Jay commented on how being out in the country with the snow cover and the all the stars visible made it "feel like Christmas" to him - because it brought back memories of Christmas on the farm. I hope that when and if we do move out onto a house on that lot, that it makes it feel more like Christmas for him for years to come. I hope we find a way to make all our Christmases from here on out memorable, meaningful and filled with old and new traditions which we may hopefully pass on to our children someday...
I hope this post will help stir up wonderful memories from your past...and if you want to share any, feel free! (There's a "comment" section for that).
Merry Christmas from the Gervings!
No comments:
Post a Comment