When does your family celebrate Christmas? We celebrate with my mother's side of the family on Christmas Eve. At my house. When I was a kid my mom had Christmas Eve at our house; it was her holiday. She always made potato soup and Italian sausage sandwiches. Why? Kind of an odd combination? They were my dad's two favorite dishes. His side of the family came over and sometimes my mom's parents. Over the years, and after the divorce, Christmas Eve moved to my grandma's house (mom's mom), my aunt and uncle and cousins started joining us (I think they had to, living just on the other side of the pier), but the menu remained largely unchanged. I think my grandma added split pea soup because my grandpa really liked that.
The first Christmas after my mom passed away I had my oldest 5 weeks prematurely, on December 19th. She got to spend her first week in the NICU and so, Christmas Eve moved to the hospital. My amazing family drove all the way from the coast to Loma Linda University Hospital, stopping by our house to stock the freezer with the usual holiday fare and more gifts for the baby than I could have dreamed up, and then came and spent a couple of hours with us. Since she was still in an incubator, nobody could even hold her yet. But she was overcoming her pneumonia and getting stronger each day, and we got to bring her home the day after Christmas. It's one of my favorite Christmases for so many reasons. What could have been a terribly sad holiday missing my mom was filled with a new baby and a loving, generous family.
A couple years later we lost my grandma, and Christmas Eve came to my house. The menu has continued to evolve, and now seems to be steadfastly potato soup, ham, and whatever else I dream up. Much to my husband's consternation I have an absolute inability to have a party and not serve something I've never tasted before. I like to experiment with new recipes on a crowd. You've been warned. My 92 year old grandpa still comes out, my aunt and uncle and now my two cousins and their kids. As the kids have gotten older, the running in circles and the volume has gone down. Which I think my grandpa, especially, appreciates.
I love that this has been my tradition for as long as I can remember. I know there was a time when I was really little that this isn't what was happening, but that's okay. I don't remember back that far.
So the little caveat, and there always is one, right? Is that my sister in law, almost always ends up hosting Christmas Day. When that day rolls around, our house resembles a disaster area, and we are pooped. Doesn't seem so bad, right? The thing is the past couple of years she's also been having Thanksgiving at her house. And I don't really think it's fair for her. So I have already committed to hosting Christmas Day next year. We did it once before, and it was...really hard. But the kids were littler and I wasn't as good at doing things ahead of time. I figure with an entire year to plan ahead, 2011 should go off without a hitch. Right? Never mind that last year I forgot to start the soup on time...
Merry Christmas!
xxoo
~Sherri
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