Christmas

We all have our own memories of Christmases past - those special holidays with family and friends while growing up. There are so many of those memories going through my head right now, I don't even know where to begin. So, how bout Christmas Eve?

In New Leipzig, Christmas Eve could be cold, very cold - after all, it was North Dakota don'tcha know. Sometimes we'd get snow. Other times not. Not so different from a lot of places around the world. But, for us, Christmas Eve in New Leipzig was our world.

Growing up in this small community on the prairie of North Dakota meant a lot of preparation in the weeks prior to Christmas Eve. Every church in town had its youngsters prepping for "the program" - arguably the most important event of the year for many of them. Memorizing "pieces", practicing singing Christmas carols, doing everything according to "plan", admiring the gigantic Christmas tree in the front corner of the church sometimes off to the right, sometimes off to the left - it all depended on whether or not the piano or the organ was going to be obscured.

In homes all around town, decorations would go up both inside and outside. Contests were held to see who could do the best decorations.

Inside the home, it was much more private. In our home, Mom went all out most times. The living room was a statement in festivity. Stringers hanging from the lights, ornaments everywhere (not just on the tree). Favorite and sentimental baubles came out for the first time all year.

But, the tree. The tree had to be bought. We couldn't just go out into the forest and cut down our own tree. It was either that, or an artificial tree. Our home didn't see artificial trees until we were more grown up. Some of those artificial trees were pretty gawd awful thinking back on it. Even some of the real trees that Mom decided needed to be "flocked" - oh, the trends of the times.

Anticipating Christmas Eve was an adventure in and of itself. Decorations were up, gifts were under the tree except for those coming from Santa.

We'd all pile into the car ready and eager to get the church program over with to be able to get back home. That's when Dad "forgot" something inside the house. Seemed like every single year in memory, Dad would "forget" something inside the house and tell us to stay in the car - that he'd be right back out. And, sure enough, a few minutes later he'd show up, get in the car, and we'd be off to church.

The program would invariably go off without a hitch. All the kids would get up and recite their own pieces in front of a packed congregation, and most would get through them in spite of their stage fright and jitters. I still picture in my mind's eye the bright lights dimming to show off the Christmas tree. There would be a silence in the congregation as everyone contemplated just what the Christmas season and message meant to them. The whole thing ended with the congregation singing Silent Night.

Then it was over. As we filed out we were each given a paper bag. It contained peanuts, an orange, a little bit of candy, and maybe even something else - a small gift, but treasured none-the-less.

Back home once again, we'd be amazed at Santa's timing. Wow! How'd he know we'd be at the church and be able to fit everyone in town into his scheduled stop? Guy was awesome!

Most all of those Christmas Eves were spent together with the Rieger clan. We'd wait for them to arrive before opening any of our gifts, and after that was done and we had enough time to digest what we'd just gotten, we'd head out to the farm to share in their Christmas joy.

Boy, when I think back on it, it must have been really hard for Gail, Bonnie, Clyde, and Fonda to have to wait for us to get done with our gift opening knowing they had their own to get to 12 miles away from there.

And then it was over. The gifts were opened. The wrapping paper was cleaned up. Well, sort of anyway. And we were off to the farm where everything was repeated for the Riegers.

By the time we got home, us kids would be pretty much tuckered out. Our family tradition was to open gifts on Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas morning. I don't know how many other families did that in our town, but I'm sure some waited. But we knew we didn't have to get up bright and early to open gifts from Santa because he'd already come the night before while we were at church. Oh, wait....was that a conspiracy our parents concocted so as to be able to sleep in on Christmas morning? Didn't matter - they got woke up anyway because we were downstairs busy making as much noise as we possible could playing with our new toys.

Christmas Day was rotated amongst and between families every year, and I gotta tell you we had a LOT of families to rotate with. So, it was always a feast of unbelievable proportions. Of course, we could all eat a whole lot more then than we can now, so the meal was prepared, everyone sat around multiple tables and filled our faces until we couldn't stuff any more in.

In our younger years, we (the kids) would then adjourn to play with each other's toys. In our older, teen years we'd adjourn to watch football or ask for the keys to the car and go driving around wasting gas.

Sometimes, when Christmas was at the farm, we'd go ice skating on the creek down below the house. It'd be so cold, our toes would feel frozen before we'd come in to warm up. That's when the home-made ice cream came out. And that must be where I got my love of ice cream. Katherine tells people I can eat ice cream while sitting in a snow bank and still enjoy it, and she's right. I LOVE ice cream, especially topped with homemade chokecherry syrup.

On those cold, very crisp Christmas Day nights when it was finally time to go home, the thing I remember is how crisp the air was, how the moonlight sparkled on the unspoiled snow, how that snow crunched underfoot as we made our way back out to the car that Dad had started to let it warm up before leaving, and how silent it was - so very, very quiet.

Regardless of how much fun we have about North Dakota, its treeless plains, it's rolling hills, its biting, stinging cold, its blizzards, and its desolation (to some), these are some of the warmest memories I have of a wonderful childhood with family and friends.

Merry Christmas everyone! And, a very happy New Year, as well!