Today is the usual, cloudy and cold with a bit of wind added to make it even more miserable. I saw stuffing from Nala’s latest victim blowing across the driveway section in the backyard. I am staying inside again. Outside is just too uninviting. I have no plans. I will take a shower and make my bed, my only exertions for the day. I have a new book, some cookies left and some egg nog still in the bottle; however, the kitchen floor is a mess of paw prints. I hope I can resist the need for clean.

After writing about being at my grandparents during Christmas time, I got to remembering. I remember I used to hang in the kitchen and listen. My mother and usually her two adult sisters would sit at the table with my grandmother. My grandmother always wore a housedress under an apron with a bib. Her slippers were bent down in the back and her stockings were rolled to her ankles. My mother and one of my aunts smoked. My mother and the same aunt who smoked usually had a drink. My other aunt was a bit prissy in her own way, one of her own ways, and she did not smoke or drink. They talked about all sorts of things. Christmas was foremost. Sometimes I got a little bored and went wandering but always ended back at the kitchen, the best spot for me. The only other choice was to watch football with my father and uncles, and I couldn’t pull that off, as if I knew anything about football back then. I was comfortable in and loved the kitchen. That’s what I mostly remember about Christmas at my grandparents back then. 

I do have some memories of my other grandparents, my father’s parents. After midnight mass, they’d come back to my house where my mother had prepared dips and snacks and drinks. My grandparents insisted they wanted to see us come downstairs to be surprised by what Santa had brought so we got awakened on purpose and were told Santa had come so we went downstairs. I was a kid. I didn’t know or care what time it was. It was late enough, or maybe early enough, for me. Santa had come. We got to play with our new toys for only a little while before we were sent back to bed. We all hated that, but we did fall back to sleep. I don’t have any memories of my grandparents ever leaving. We even slept a little later in the morning. I remember waking up and thinking about my presents and being so excited to get up and run downstairs. What an amazing way to wake up for any kid, even a kid who had played for a bit with some of her toys, to realize Santa had come and there were presents and surprises waiting under the tree and in my stocking.

I don’t have other Christmas memories with those grandparents though a dinner one night at their house was the usual custom. I’m just forgetting the exact day. I was young. 

Today has little to commend it. The rain is still here. The sky is a dark, dismal gray. All the expectations are gone. The surprises have been revealed.

I love my Christmas presents. Moe found neat little stuff like the uglies snowman and the plastic bride and groom to add to my collections. Sheila too knows me well. She found neat gifts. Bill and Peg sent some fun presents and my sloth calendar. Sloths are cute. Please don’t disparage if you haven’t seen them. Moe found an old Bolga basket with the leather handle totally wrapped. She does find amazing gifts in her travels. My presents are in a pile so I can go through them again later.

Christmas dinner was scrumptious, and I get to have it again today. I also have some sugar cookies and more breads and a box of See’s chocolates, cinnamon drops and cinnamon lollipops. I always think Christmas is delicious in so many ways.

When I was a kid, the day after Christmas was a slow day. All our presents were piled under the tree, and we played with them over the course of the day when we were home. Usually we went to East Boston to visit my grandparents as did everyone else, all the aunts and uncles and the hundreds of cousins. There was a gathering in the kitchen, usually the women around the table. The men were watching football. The cousins were running and chasing each other. They were all younger than I, mostly my sisters’ ages. I stayed out of the way. At some time, usually earlier rather than later, my grandmother called us all to the living room and she gave out presents. She always had presents for us every holiday. That quieted the troops down for a bit. Food was on the stove. Eat when you’re hungry was the rule of the day. By early evening, it was time to grab the gifts, load the car and head home.

We usually fell asleep on the way home. It had been a long couple of days and one long night. The house was dark when we got home. I remember we raced to the windows to turn on the orange candle bulbs. Someone turned on the tree and someone else the outside lights. It was quiet. We sat around watching some TV and checking out our gifts again. I remember going through my stocking one item at a time, making a small pile then putting each item back inside the stocking. I went to bed early. I was really tired.