Vividness

Is that a word -- vividness? Well, I vividly remember that at the beginning of October it was time to start practice for the annual church Christmas pageant. And since I'm trying to get my trees in a row for the upcoming season which, as always, will be busy and fly by, I was thinking about this.

I know my mom never showed any panic or dread at the upcoming season -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas -- she just always seemed to be in such control of herself and any situation she was in. I don't recall her ever saying, "I wish they wouldn't do this, this year, because I have too many other things to do." Or, "I don't have time to go shopping for gifts, let alone address 100 cards to people in the church and elsewhere."

Mom just flowed. Halloween was not something my father particularly enjoyed. Mom loved giving out goodies to the children in the neighborhood. Mostly Mary Janes. I hated those things, but they were a good buy -- you got two for a penny, so mom could almost afford to give out Mary Janes by the fours, and kids thought they were getting a lot of candy -- do the math, that's two cents per child that came to our door, and since we lived on a quiet street, we really didn't get more than 25 or 30 kids. And we always had left over Mary Janes because mom bought 100 of them (that's 50 cents).

Then she started in on Thanksgiving, and she decorated our dining room table with a cornucopia and fall colored candles and a tan-ish table cloth. She planned her menu carefully -- unless it was Aunt Anne's year for Thanksgiving, then she just had to "bring something." But she breezed through that as well. Then is was December.

In December she started around the first by going down into the basement and getting out the decorations that she put around the house -- her favorite angels, some greens, some Christmas balls -- the tree came whenever dad decided to go get it, usually around December 24th, sometimes earlier, but not often. Then she spent part of the month making the gifts she would give to her Sunday school class (the 20/30-something women) and she never seemed flustered about that, either. Even the time, I recall, she was making really cute aprons, and she had to rip out one seam several times before she finally got it right. She just ripped away, never mumbling or complaining.

When we were growing up, if we were dissatisfied with something, we'd go around the house saying "mumble, mumble, mumble" or "grumble, grumble, grumble." Do you remember that, sis?

Back to mom. Also in December she had to be at the church almost every night for practice for the pageant or some other meeting, she had to visit four school performances in the month of December because she had four children and she couldn't very well offend one of them because she didn't really have time to see their play.

And, I remember her coming to our school plays and I was always so proud at those events because I knew I had the most beautiful mother of all the mothers there.

Then after Christmas was over, it was time to get ready for New Year's Eve service -- which meant baking several items for the church pre-midnight feast. New Year's day was very quiet. I guess that's when mom and dad finally after three months of go, go, go -- finally could rest for a few days before the new year started in and once again the rounds of church and school events became part of the busyness of their lives.

What a weekend

I don't remember Labor Day being a big thing when I was growing up. I grew up in a community where almost everyone worked at New York Ship Yard, or the Philadelphia Navy Yard. So, I know they were union employees. But Labor Day was just the end of summer, that's all. No big deal.

Oh, the traffic on the pike going toward Philly was bad -- those were the days before the bridge was put in that went over to South Philadelphia. And that was just another sign that people were coming back from the shore and summer was truly over.

School would start the next Monday. School in New Jersey never, ever started before Labor Day. Out here in Kentucky, every since we moved here in 1975, school has started at the end of August -- usually the last Monday. Lately, though -- that is in the last couple of years -- school has been starting earlier and earlier and earlier (in August) and this year in our county (counties are big things out here in Kentucky) school started on August 5th.

I think it's terrible that they take a whole month of summer away from children. They got out of school around June 1, so they only had June and July. Two measly months! Man, I'm glad I was kid back in the good old days when we got a FULL Summer's worth of days off!

ttfn

What is it about holidays?

I have written a couple of remembrances of holidays as I remember them. What is it about holidays that makes one remember smells, tastes, laughs, and other things with such fondness?



My sister was recalling Halloween. We don't "honor" halloween any more. We didn't "do" halloween when my children were growing up either. Without getting "religious", let me just say that I believe Halloween is the devil's holiday, wholly. And because of all the evil things that transpire on that day or around that day, we felt is was a safety thing for our family to ignore the day and think on Godly things.



That said...



How can I explain what Halloween was like when I was a child. It was fun! And I guess for some today, it is also fun, but all I can see is the dark side of Halloween. However, when I was a kid, I would rush home from school on October 31 (I wasn't allowed to participate before I went to school), and since I had a costume already for school, I just checked in with my mother and off I went with my bag.



There were certain places in Runnemede that I had to get to before they ran out. Gardner's Funeral home always gave out apple taffies. Not the nut covered kind, but the red-hots covered kind. They were soooo good. Then I went to Calenders, on Clements Bridge Road, two up from the church, because they gave out nickles. There was a home (don't know who's it was) on Knight Avenue that gave out dimes. After that circle was completed, I methodically went up and down the pike, because the stores gave nickle candy bars (50 cent candy bars these days). Then after I got up to 8th Avenue, I would work my way back going back and forth on the various avenues. Now, I didn't cross the railroad tracks, there was enough good stuff on our side of the tracks. And, I had to be home before dark (which was at 5:00 p.m.). I was never allowed out after dark.



I don't recall any reports of razors or pins in candy, or poison, or any kidnappings or beatings. We just had fun.



I'm sure my banging on Halloween might offend some family members, but that's okay. You have to come to a conclusion on your own, based on your understanding of God's word about "fleeing evil", etc., and because some in my family still celebrate Halloween, doesn't mean I love them any less, or think that God isn't pleased with them. It's just something Alan and I determined and we stuck to it.



But this muse was not supposed to be about Halloween, it is supposed to be about holidays.

Thanksgiving

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is two months away. But you wait and see, it will be here before we can blink our eyes!

I love Thanksgiving -- still. I was and is my favorite holiday. I hate it, though, when it is referred to as "turkey day." No, folks, it's Thanksgiving. A day for giving thanks.

Growing up we had no choice. There was...church. You know, around here (in northern KY) there is not a single church that is open on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, every Thanksgiving morning (including the mornings of the final high school football games of the season) we were in church from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nowadays, I know women would balk at that. After all we have all that cooking to do, right? But my mom and all the women at Mt. Calvary didn't complain, at least not so anyone would hear them. And, what was the purpose of the Thanksgiving service? To give thanks for God's blessing from the past year. EVERYONE stood up and either said a Bible verse, or said, "I'm thankful for..." Some people were more long-winded than others, but at 11:00 a.m. a person's opportunity to give thanks was over. The service was over and we went home, after singing: We gather together. (http://wilstar.com/holidays/wegather.htm)

Most years we had Thanksgiving dinner at our home, but for a few years we all went to Aunt Annie's house (in Springfield, PA). And what a dinner it was. It was one the day we had all the treats we didn't get the rest of the year. OLIVES, home-made pie, peas and onions in a cream sauce, sweet potatoes.

It was also the day that my father said a grace that lasted so long, the food got cold. First he read one of the "thankful" psalms. Then he would say, "Bow your heads," which, of course, we did. We were hungry. It was almost 1 o'clock and we'd been up since around 7 a.m. Anyway, he started to pray and he was thankful, boy was he thankful. He thanked the Lord for each child (he had four), his wife, his wife's family (individually named, and my mom came from a large Italian family), etc. Just when you thought he was finished, he'd start up again, thanking God for each item of food that was on the table.

Well, by this time, Aunt Annie could contain herself no more, and she started snickering. Being the good PKs we were, we didn't peek (yeah, right!) and when Aunt Annie started snickering, well, it snowballed. Dad seemed oblivious to the laughter as he continued, and continued, and continued, and the gravy started to gel!

Eventually, he stopped being thankful, and we were able to eat -- and eat we did. Always, we were stuffed, and dessert waited until later in the afternoon. While we were digesting our food we either looked at pictures (this was when we were at Aunt Annie's) or play ping-pong -- when we had Thanksgiving at our house, we usually went outside (and it was always cold on Thanksgiving, and I can even remember snow on the ground) and played. I probably walked my dolly around the block in her coach, with my sister tagging along. Then around 4 o'clock we'd sit down and have dessert.

The feast didn't end with dessert, no siree. We had to have our supper-- usually around 7 p.m. And that was leftovers. Not heated up leftovers, just cold leftovers, but you know what? Those cold leftovers were wonderful. Most adults made sandwiches with the leftover turkey. I just ate the cold turkey and cold stuffing and if there were any left, olives. Yummmmm!

After that, we were all exhausted. We cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, put the few left over leftovers away (I said that correctly -- there were leftovers still remaining), and we either went back to Runnemede, or all the family left for their places of abode.

Who attended these feasts? The Drexlers, the Sbaraglias (my mom's brother's family), the Egittos (Aunt Annie's family), and several of the Evangelista's (Aunt Daisy's family). If the Boylls were up from Tennessee (very rarely, until Betty and Dan went to Philadelphia College of Bible), they joined us as well. The Boylls were Aunt Fran's family. Aunt Fran was one of my mom's sisters, as was Aunt Daisy.

I hope I didn't leave anyone out. When TV became more popular, those football games took over the afternoons, at least for the boys and men. But that was okay. We women-folk had plenty to do -- no dishwashers back then, and when we were little, my sister and I, and my cousin Joan just did girly things.

I tried to start that type of tradition when my children were growing up -- we were so far from my family, and Alan's family was scattered all over the country. We usually invited some of the neighborhood kids over in the afternoon to play table games, and stay for "leftover" supper. After the children all married, they had other families to visit. Many of those years when my children were growing up, we went to Royal Center, IN to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my brother, Mark, and his family. They were very special times for our family.

Two years ago, we had a Thanksgiving reunion, sort of. All my children, and my brother and one of his children (Lori and her family) came to spend the weekend here in northern KY. We had dinner at Cyndi's house. I think we had a good time. You see, I don't remember much of the weekend, because I had a mini-stroke, and all memory of our time together is erased from my mind. But the children tell me it was a great time. We apparently played games after dinner -- NO FOOTBALL.

I must add that for a few years we went to the Stamper family Thanksgiving dinner, and I am so grateful for those invitations, since those years were years when Alan was recovering from bone marrow cancer, and all the children were at their spouse's families. They were a special blessing for me and Alan.

So, folks, with Thanksgiving coming up -- remember the purpose of the day is to be thankful for all our blessings -- which in truth should be a daily remembrance. God's Word says to gives thanks for everything, and the day of the year isn't mentioned, so one has to assume it's a daily attitude.