Christmas Present

Our Christmas this year was very quiet. Since Christmas fell on Wed. it was a regular work day for us. Because I had taken so much time off in the summer and fall to attend the funerals of my grandparents, I didn't have any days left to take off for Christmas. I guess I could have asked for an unpaid day, but I just didn't feel right doing it since I had already taken so many unpaid days. I didn't want to impose on the graciousness of my bosses.

On Sunday the 22nd we planned to celebrate with our sweet family The Yoshidas. Rev. Yoshida (Jiji) held a special private service in their home for us. Two of their daughters joined us via webcam from Hokkaido. It was such a peaceful and beautiful service. We sat by the warm fireplace and all took turns reading passages from the Bible. We sang Christmas Hymns and listened to Jiji's special Christmas message. We did not have as much snow there as last week, but it was still a "white Christmas".

After that we had a small Christmas Pageant. The week before Violet and Baba had been talking about the Christmas Story and Violet decided to be the Angel. We ended up acting out the Nativity story a few times. So last Sunday we did the same. Violet was the angel, I was Mary and Gabe was Joseph. We had a babydoll for baby Jesus. Jiji and Baba were the innkeepers. It was such a sweet little pageant and Violet knew exactly how the story was to go. She repeated lines from her favorite Christmas Storybook. It was perfect.

After the pageant we had a beautiful lunch of Chirashizuzhi and soup. Followed by cakes and cakes and more cakes. It was a delicious feast!

Following lunch we played and napped and then we all went to a local onsen for a nice long soak. The water was warm and the view from the beautiful. Violet made a friend in the bath. The walked around the bath together and held hands as the sat in the warm water together. They giggled and played and chased each other around.

After her bath, Jiji bought her an ice cream cone and then we drove back home. Jiji made a delicious pot of Sukiyaki for dinner! We hadn't had it in so long and we all ate until our tummies were full. It was Violet's first time to have Sukiyaki and she said "I suspect that I do like Sukiyaki!"

After dinner we opened gifts and then watched The Sound of Music on Jiji's projector screen. Violet loves TSOM. It is currently her favorite movie. She stood in front of the big screen watching Julie Andrews with a smile on her face. She tried so hard to stay awake through the movie but shortly after 16 Going on 17 she was fast asleep.

She loved sleeping in "her" room at Jiji and Baba's house. And we woke up to Baba's delicious breakfast! After that we played and read some books and Violet played her new hiragana karuta with Baba. She loves to study! Last, we went into town for a delicious lunch of Hitsumi ( a chicken soup with flat dumplings). The snow was falling steadily and the air was crisp. Violet enjoyed catching snowflakes on her tongue and in her hands.

On Christmas Eve we had to work and Violet went to school. She was very upset about that and said "Christmas is for staying home all day and being with your family." I couldn't agree more. After school we picked her up and then went home to change for Christmas Eve church. She was so excited to see her Auntie (Mutsuko) and Aunt Teresa and Ryo. She decided to sit with them and she often turned around to smile at me or ask me a question. "Why do we go to church for Jesus?" "Why do we close our eyes when we pray?" "Why does the Priest wear a robe?" "Where does the money go that we put in the offering" "Why do we sing songs?" ......

After church there was a light dinner party with cakes and sandwiches. She enjoyed that too. When we finally got home it was 9:00pm. She is usually asleep by 8! But since it was Christmas Eve we let her stay up and watch a movie before bed. We watched the story of the Raven and then the Grinch (her favorite Christmas movie this year). She loved the Raven story and wanted to watch it over and over. It was amazing to see her make the connection between the similarities of the story to the story of Christ's birth. After it was over she told us that Jesus is the light.

Christmas morning we woke up and she opened her stocking. I surprised her with a little stuffed Kitty that she has seen in the store and wanted to take home. She was thrilled! And a chocolate cookie shaped like a cat. She is cat crazy!

Then I got up and made some breakfast and we headed out the door. I had to work but Gabe took the day off to spend with her. They had a fun day together and then came to work to get me, She came up to my office and couldn't believe that she "got to pick up a grown up!"

We went home and opened our gifts by the tree. She wanted to play with each thing as soon as she opened it and was content to stop after each gift. We actually didn't finish opening everything because she go to playing and then got tired. We ate dinner and watched a Christmas special.

We crawled into bed and she was asleep before I even finished the 3rd page of Mortimer's Christmas Manger.

Christmas was quiet and we missed our family back home for sure. But we were definitely thankful that we were blessed with another year together. We are looking forward to our winter holiday this coming week. We get a week off for the New Year celebrations.

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you all Peace, Love and Light!

Christmas Past

When I think about Christmas Eve I think about candles. I think about the soft mysterious sounds of O Come O Come Emmanuel echoing through a darkened church. Silent Night sung softly by the choir and warm tears slowly touching my cheeks. 

Christmas Eve for me as a child meant waiting for Santa and going to Mamo and Papo’s house to play with cousins. The smell of tamales warming in the oven mixed with the scent of the pine tree lingered in the air. All of us little ones gathered in the living room. Sitting on the floor together in our Christmas best. All of us smiling as we waited for the magic to begin. I remember singing together and listening with all our might for the jingle of those bells and the stomping feet of the reindeer to appear on Mamo’s roof. Then at last there it would be… stomp stomp stomp, jingle jingle jangle. The bells would ring and our hearts would begin beating through our chests as we waited for him to appear. 

Santa would come early to Mamo and Papo’s house and give us all a special treat and we promised to go home and go to sleep as soon as we got home. 

The house was full of love. As our family grew the house would almost seem to burst at the seams. If those walls could talk, oh the stories they would tell. Each room filled to the brim with laughter and sometimes tears. 

I remember Aunts and cousins going to the back rooms to nurse their babies and us younger ones following along to listen to their stories. 

Shifts were taken at the tables to eat the tamales that Mamo and the aunts had made. That first bite of the pillow soft tamale always made it seem like Christmas had officially begun. Papo usually occupied one seat at the dinner table for the whole evening and when it was your turn to sit it was not only your chance to eat but your chance to talk to him and listen to a story or two. “Que paso Stepania” (he called me Stepania) His smile and warm eyes focused on the persons that were seated during each round. His hard working hands visible as he rapped his nails on the wood of the table he so lovingly made. I can see his nails running along the grooves of the table, the table at which so many loving meals were shared.

Mamo was always at the stove or running between the table and the microwave as she served her family. She would call out “Mija have you eaten yet?” I feel her warm embrace and the softness of her lips as she kissed me. Her beautiful soft hands holding my face as she wished me a Merry Christmas. 

Then came time for presents….Who would be the one to hand out the gifts that year? I remember Uncle Oscar would usually do the job as his voice could carry over the crowds. It was always exciting to see who had drawn your name that year. I remember the year we made gifts instead of buying them. I remember making a leather wallet for my cousin Sammy. And my Uncle Sam made a pants rack for my Dad, which he used every single day. I think my Aunt Olga painted some figurines for my mom and although I can’t picture the gift exactly I can remember the look on my mother’s face as she opened the gift. 

That house on West Mandalay overflowed with love. Two people who loved each other and the Lord so deeply made it so. 

After my family returned home, usually around one in the morning, it was time to wrap gifts. Mom and Dad would go into their bedroom and wrap all night and my brothers and I would wrap in their room. We’d whisper and giggle and wonder what we might be opening the next morning. 

Finally, it would be time to sleep, but it was so hard to fall asleep. Waking in the morning was so exciting. I would sneak across the hall to my brothers’ room (never peaking over the balcony at the tree) and wake them up. We would watch the clock and wait until it was late enough to run downstairs to wake up mom and dad. Then we’d run into their room and jump up on their bed to wake them. 

We’d run to the tree and to our delight we would find packages with our names written on them. Mom’s handwriting was on the tags…even the ones signed Love, Santa. Even up until our last Christmas with her, some presents were always signed, Love, Santa.

The year we all got bikes for Christmas solidified my belief in Santa. I was 9 and I figured that there was no way our parents could afford 3 new bikes! The only way that these gifts were possible was if Santa himself had brought them on his sleigh. 

We’d open gifts and Dad would videotape the whole thing. Amy Grant’s A Christmas Album would be playing on the record player and Snowball, my cat would be playing under the tree, in years later she was joined by Mally. Mom would be wearing her pink winter nightgown/robe and wearing Dad's yellow slippers. I can see her smiling there beside the tree.

Dad would always surprise mom with something romantic and sweet, a nightgown or her favorite perfume. She’d smile and they would kiss. Always in love…. Mom and I always got new pjs (or nightgowns) for Christmas and after all the gifts were opened we would go to her room to try them on together while Dad would make breakfast tacos for breakfast.

The house on Oak Mist, another house full of love. 

Later in the day we would celebrate with the Sweets (Mom’s family). When I was younger we would go to Granny and Papa’s house. Granny and Papa would be waiting for us all to arrive and it was usually warm enough for all the cousins to play outside. The smell of apple cake and turkey flowed out of the kitchen. The tree, usually in the corner of the living room was decorated with ornaments from my mother’s childhood and I always loved looking at each one as I wondered what she was like at my age. The built in bar in the living room provided a place for hide and seek and always seemed so mysterious to me. 

Cousins Kristen and Lisa never seemed to get annoyed with me when I wanted to be on their laps every time they sat down. Cousin Heather and I shared our secrets in the back rooms and shared the toilet seat when we had to go to the bathroom. Cousin Jimmy could be found climbing the trees or running away from Heather and me as we tried to kiss him. 

The house on Redcliff, yet another house full of love.

Your cousins really are your first friends, aside from your siblings, and I am so blessed that I grew up with so many.

I am so thankful that I have these precious memories and that God blessed us with such a large, loving family. The sounds, smells and sights of Christmases past live on in my heart and my mind and I will treasure them always.

Merry Christmas!

A gift

Today as we were walking home from school Violet asked many questions, as she usually does. She asked about family and love. She wanted to know where my mommy was. I told her Grandma Pam was still in heaven. She replied "So you don't have your mommy or your Mamo or your Papo." I said "No I don't. But even though I can't see them anymore I can still feel them all around me." I know she senses my sadness and grief.

She looked at me for a moment and then said, "I will give you my binoculars for Christmas,  mommy. My binoculars will help you see all the way up to heaven. Then you can see your mommy and Mamo and Papo again and wish them a a Merry Christmas. That's what I want to give you for Christmas." 

Oh sweet girl, you heal my heart everyday. I so wish those binoculars would work for me like they work for you.

The heart of a child is so precious. 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Oh come oh come Emmanuel. 

And randsome captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice Rejoice Emmanuel
shall come to the oh Israel.