This Year’s Christmas Memories

Christmas seemed a bit blah this year. The dreary sky filled with clouds and rain dampened my usual holiday spirit. My son Andrew, his wife Renee and their children spent Christmas in New Mexico visiting her parents, Steve and Ann Largent. I did get the old artificial tree decorated because my kids put up the tree after Thanksgiving dinner and I was able to hang the ornaments on it. That was a big help, because last year I was sick and ended up hospitalized on Christmas Eve and did not really decorate. We celebrated after I got home, but the gifts were scant. I hadn’t felt like shopping either.

This year I did most of my shopping early, but wrapping those gifts took much longer. Half of my bed was covered in boxes of wrapping paper and items waiting to wear the bright Christmas patterned until recently, then I found I couldn’t sleep well in the wide open space.

The opening of the gifts will be delayed again this year. Since the gifts I bought were similar for each of my children and grandchildren, I said I wasn’t celebrating until we all could gather. Even my oldest granddaughter’s sixteenth birthday bash has been delayed until after the first of the new year..

There was some celebrating with friends from a few Connellsville High School graduates of 1967 who meet monthly for a luncheon. We gather o eat and gab, smile and reminisce. This year was ugly sweater themed. I couldn’t fit in mine. The sweater was one my dad (yes my dad Carl Beck) actually bought for me when I was in eleventh grade. It was bright red with white background and a black pattern running through it. At the time, I thought it was SO ugly, but now it is a treasured memory. Thanks Dad.

The second holiday meal was with my Chestnut Ridge Historical Society members. It was a local restaurant, its name I won’t mention, because the food wasn’t up to palatable fare. I ordered a strip steak and a crab cake with French fries. I got sour cream infused mashed potatoes with gravy, and the potatoes were barely warm. My strip steak was filled with gristle. I didn’t know you could get strip steaks from a horse. And the crab cake was bland with more filler than crab. Other than that, we had a great time. There is a funny story about one of our members trying to escape without paying her bill and a new member covered for her, paying her bill, but I won’t share that. I promised that I wouldn’t. (At least I didn’t mention your name.) Merry Christmas and the hope of looking forward to a blessed New Year.