Last Christmas

April G.

On the night before Christmas, my whole family would get together and celebrate.  It was always happy and warm.  My grandmother and aunts would cook in the kitchen while the men would sit around and socialize.  The kids would find random trouble to get into such as making fires in the back yard and roasting marshmallows without parental consent.  I always loved this time of the year as a child.  The scent of everything was so appealing.  I enjoyed putting the decorations on the tree and wrapping presents.  I remember at night, when everyone was asleep, my cousin and I would sneak into the living room where the tree was and turn the lights on the tree.  We would play with the random settings or just lie on the floor and look at the colored lights.  Sometimes, we would even play hide-and-go-seek in the dimmed lights from the tree.

            When dinner was ready with turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese, biscuits, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, carrots, stuffing, and the list goes on forever. You knew it was time to eat when you smelled the sweet, steaming pie out of the oven. We all would sit around a huge table in the center of the kitchen, and we all had our own assigned seat. I think it would be an hour before we got up from eating.  After eating, we would open presents in a big circle.  The first to receive presents were children.  After presents were opened, we would sit and just talk happily.  In the background was the holiday music, and everyone would be sipping hot cocoa.

 I still remember the feeling the loving atmosphere. It was the last holiday I spent with my grandmother. Since she passed away, we haven’t really celebrated Christmas or got together with the family.  The only fond memory I still have is about that last Christmas.